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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30042387">Inflection Point</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaos_monkey/pseuds/chaos_monkey'>chaos_monkey</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Accidental Voyeurism, Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Briefly implied threat of rape, Canon-Typical Xenophobia, Emotional Trauma, Eventual Smut, Explicit Sexual Content, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Character Deaths, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Plot-heavy, Polyamory, Prison, Semi-Public Sex, Slightly more graphic violence than canon-typical, Slow Burn, happy/hopeful ending, oh yeah and probably, or slow for me at least</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:41:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>29,437</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30042387</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaos_monkey/pseuds/chaos_monkey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A single, momentous event in the life of one can cause unanticipated changes in the lives of others, though they may have yet to meet. The ripples of consequence spread outwards over time, passed from one person to another as their lives touch… and their paths join. </p><p>When Imperial cadet Eli Vanto is torn away from the life he knows, his is not the only future which is irrevocably changed.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nevil Cygni | Nightswan/Eli Vanto, Nevil Cygni | Nightswan/Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo, Nevil Cygni | Nightswan/Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Eli Vanto, Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Eli Vanto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>147</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>59</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A few notes:<br/>-There are some short excerpts and a few lines of dialogue which are quoted verbatim (or with minor changes) from Zahn’s 2017 Thrawn novel.<br/>-I’ve also based this solely off that book canon. Most notably, I’ve written Nevil Cygni the way I initially headcanon-ed him, so his description doesn’t match the comic (Idris Elba, he’s basically shorter Idris Elba, okay). If you don’t enjoy my headcanon, feel free to mentally replace those descriptions with your preference.<br/>-And finally, the fic is in fact <i>already complete! </i>I’ll be updating every Sunday (barring, y’know, any unexpected life circumstances getting in the way)</p><p>And a few important acknowledgements:<br/>-Thank you so much Rev, not just for beta-reading this monster (well, monster compared to what I usually write), but also for your time and friendship, and for just being there with me from the very beginning of this. <i>...And </i>for being a genius and finding The Title.<br/>-Thank you Zs, dd, drac, whale (and magic post-its) - this story would make a whole lot less sense without your input and feedback and advice at different points along the way.<br/>-And thank you to everyone else whose general encouragement kept me going while I fretted over this project for like half a year.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>All beings begin their lives with hopes and aspirations. Among these aspirations is the desire that there will be a straight path to those goals.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>It is seldom so. Perhaps never. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>In mathematical charting models, the inflection point is where the direction of a curve changes markedly in response to an event. This shift must be noticeable or decisive and attributed to a particular cause. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Sometimes these shifts are of one’s own volition, as one’s thoughts and goals change over time. But more often they are mandated by outside forces. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>To some extent, the direction of one’s chosen path automatically selects for the paths that may cross it. A warrior’s path will intersect the paths of other warriors, allies and enemies alike. A worker’s path will intersect the paths of other workers. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>But as with games of cards or dice, sometimes unexpected crossings occur. Some are driven by chance, others by design, others by a change in one’s goals. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Some are driven by malice.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>One whose path has shifted is often initially disoriented. But as time passes, and the path continues steadily in its new direction, there is a tendency to believe that it will remain so forever, with no further turns. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Nothing is further from the truth. A path once bent is always susceptible to new changes.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Kellik plastered on a smile as the video feed fuzzed to life and two humans flickered into view. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah. Wonderful. Good day to you—” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you want, Kellik?” the human female interrupted. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Rudely. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The narrow strips of fur on her forehead were drawn together and the sides of her mouth turned down. Her mate was wearing the same expression. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Displeasure. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kellik forced their own irritably fluttering featherlets to smooth out again. “Our last discussion ended poorly, I thought,” they answered. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Politely. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“Let us revisit our arrangement. My business dealings have provided you with many profits in the past. Let us not allow this one unpleasant misunderstanding to sour what can yet be a profitable arrangement—” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No,” the human male snapped. “We told you last time, we will </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>be a part of your filthy spice smuggling operation. Not now, not ever.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kellik hissed under their breath. First the humans dump precious cargo and refuse to refund the fees, and now they cannot even be courteous enough to negotiate? “It would not be wise to cross me,” Kellik warned, ruff beginning to spike in anger. “I have many contacts in this sector I could call upon to ruin you, your family, </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>your business if I so chose.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We are a legitimate, lawful company,” the female said. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Brittle. Uncompromising. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“We have nothing to fear from the likes of </span>
  <em>
    <span>you. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Our dealings are through, Kellik. Don’t contact us again.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The human reached forward, and the connection flickered and died. Kellik stared at the blank screen for a moment, eyes narrowing and their ruff spiking higher still at the sheer self-righteous </span>
  <em>
    <span>arrogance</span>
  </em>
  <span> of the two humans. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So be it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Compose encrypted message to contact: The Commodore,” Kellik ordered the computer. “Code R-V dash oh-four-seven-seven-six dash two-one-nine. Translate into Basic before transmission. Message reads: Calling in the favour you owe me. Eliminate violent insurgent cell in Wild Space, masquerading as a local shipping company. Details enclosed. As always, a pleasure doing business with you, Commodore. Message ends.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The computer pinged, signalling it had recorded the translated message. Kellik smiled darkly, featherlets splaying in delight. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Append all information in file: Vanto Shipping, and send message.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Eli Vanto stumbled off the Imperial transport ship with his hands manacled behind his back. The man in front of him tripped at the bottom of the ramp and fell, earning himself a cuff around the head as he was dragged back to his feet by one of the stormtroopers. Eli just barely managed to stay on his feet, his muscles stiff and sluggish, his brain slow and foggy. He wondered, distantly, if he was still in shock. Could shock last this long? Maybe, especially given what had happened to his parents— </p><p>Eli’s mind went blank. </p><p>By the time he came back to himself, he and his small, bedraggled group of prisoners had apparently entered the hallways of some sort of complex, all prefab grey-white walls and scuffed grey floor plating. A few twists and turns later they emerged into a large circular room, the same drab-standard Imperial walls broken by several closed, red-locked doors. Eli staggered to a halt when the man walking in front of him stopped; then moved forward again a minute or two later. Or maybe longer; time was passing oddly. </p><p>Someone in an Imperial uniform appeared in front of him, and Eli looked up, trying to blink his eyes back into focus. He was uncuffed and led past what looked like a standard security desk, his hands pressed flat against a panel that lit up briefly, and then ushered roughly into a small chamber no bigger than a particularly cramped escape pod. </p><p>For one wild, panicked moment, Eli thought it was a coffin— but nothing happened aside from a few beams of light passing over him from different angles, and some electronic and mechanical clicking noises from the pod. The door slid open again and he was pushed ahead into the waiting group while the rest of the prisoners had their turn in the cylindrical chamber. </p><p>“Move,” came the dispassionate order from somewhere in the group of stormtroopers flanking them, and Eli’s little motley group obediently started shambling forward again. Someone was whimpering softly under their breath. Eli was pretty sure it wasn’t him. </p><p>He stared around as he passed through another unassuming-looking doorway and out of the prefab processing room, a strangely numb sort of horror settling onto his shoulders like a lead weight as disjointed memories filtered through his mind. </p><p>This was it. This was the mining prison where he would spend the next years of his life, maybe even the rest of it, working off his supposed debt to the Empire. His <em> parents’ </em> supposed debt, not even his own. </p><p>It was dark, oppressive, the blindingly bright artificial lights somehow only making the rough-hewn stone walls <em> more </em> shadowed and bleak. The corridor they were walking through, though he knew, rationally, it wasn’t all that small… it felt too <em> close, </em>too tight, echoing with the sounds of footsteps on the hard, smooth-plated floor. The entire space of it seemed to close in on him the further he went, like the maw of some great beast, opening up and then crushing around him as it swallowed him whole— </p><p>“Get up, scum.” </p><p>Eli blinked, staggering back to his feet with the help of a hand fisted in the back of his shirt to haul him upright. The voice was the tinny, distorted sound of a stormtrooper; the hand at his back edged with hard, sharp armour. </p><p>He didn’t remember falling down. </p><p>They were somewhere else now, out of the horrible suffocating corridor and in a massive, open cavern of a room with the same rock walls and plated floors. It was filled with people; mostly human, though with a scattering of some of the more humanoid aliens as well. Eli vaguely noticed the other members of his transport group being directed into the room one at a time and drifting away on their own, and then he was being shoved forward again by the stormtrooper who had picked him up off the floor. </p><p>“Move, prisoner. You’ve been assigned to bunk DR-7.” It wasn’t the stormtrooper who spoke that time, but an Imperial officer, standing off to one side with a bored expression and a glowing datapad in one hand. Eli knew he recognized the rank insignia on the officer’s chest, but somehow the pattern of coloured bars didn’t make any sense. </p><p>He moved forward into the cavernous space as though in a dream, aware in a distant sort of way that some of the other people— the other inmates, they must be— were watching him as he walked further into the room. It looked like… like some strange mockery of a living room, or— no, like the rec room of a ship, he realized. Though much bigger and filled with far more people than any ship he’d ever been in. Most of the prisoners there looked worn and weathered, and some particularly— </p><p>Dangerous. </p><p>Eli swallowed hard, his focus abruptly sharpening at the realization that a handful of the watchers had interested leers spreading across their faces; leers directed at him. He tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible as he looked around, avoiding meeting anyone’s gaze and edging off towards one side of the large room. There were doorless alcoves coming off the sides at regular intervals, a tarnished plaque with a double-letter designation fixed to the wall beside each one. The bunkrooms, presumably. Eli followed the alphabetical pattern around the room until he drew near the doorway marked with the letters DR— and then he froze, stumbling to a halt a few paces away from it. One of those <em> watchers </em>was lounging against the rough wall right beside the entryway to Eli’s assigned room, and the unsettling grin on his face widened as he saw Eli notice him. </p><p>“Come on in, pretty boy. You’re bunking with me,” the man said, eyes wandering lazily down Eli’s body and back up again. He was tall, and scarred, and terrifying, with yellowed teeth and a tangled black nest of a beard below a pale, tattooed scalp. “Guess it’s my lucky day, huh?” </p><p>Eli’s heart thudded in his chest with rising, useless panic as he backed away half a step and stopped again. He couldn’t breathe. He didn’t want to go in there, he didn’t want to know what was going to happen if he did, and he knew he already <em> did </em> know. He was trapped, stuck here, at the mercy of men like this with no way out, and he just wanted to go <em> home.  </em></p><p>Tears stung his eyes and the room started closing in on him again. He might never get to go home, never see Lysatra again. For that matter, he would probably never see anything outside this horrible mine ever again. </p><p>“I think there’s been a mistake.” </p><p>Eli jumped and stumbled again as a hand landed on his shoulder and gently but firmly pushed him back another step. The owner of the voice, and the hand, was a man who had stepped in between Eli and the guy at the wall. Eli couldn’t see his face, but he seemed human from the back; broad-shouldered and taller than Eli, with dark skin and tightly curled black hair shorn nearly down to his scalp. He was wearing a sweat-stained white undershirt and some sort of dark grey jumpsuit, the open top half hanging down from his hips. The same jumpsuit everyone in the room was wearing, Eli realized, aside from him and the small group who had just arrived. </p><p>“How’s that?” the creep sneered, but he didn’t move. </p><p>“The new kid got the room wrong. He wasn’t assigned here. Come on,” the second man added gruffly, to Eli this time. He turned away from the doorway and gave Eli a little push to get him moving, but never quite turned his back on the man until they were halfway across the room. </p><p>It was emptier than it had been when Eli had arrived, and he looked up to see people milling out through a large, irregular archway across from the now-closed doorway where he’d come in. </p><p>“I’m Nevil,” the guy with him said quietly. “You look exhausted. Did they feed you at all on the transport?” </p><p>Eli looked at him blankly, then shook his head wordlessly as the question slowly filtered into his sluggish brain. </p><p>The man— Nevil— scoffed, his expression hardening. “Of course they didn’t. Fortunately for you, you got here just in time for supper. Come on,” he said again, nudging Eli in the direction of the doorway. They were almost alone, now, save for a few other stragglers. “You’ll feel better for eating.” </p><p>Eli let himself be ushered through the doorway and into what looked so much like the cafeteria back at Myomar Academy it set him to blinking back tears again as Nevil led him to the front. Unlike the Academy, he didn’t know anyone here. The few friends he had there were probably wondering what had happened to him… </p><p>Or maybe they knew, maybe he’d been set as an example and everyone he’d ever known back home hated his whole family. Or maybe they’d all been interrogated on suspicion of being in league with traitors to the Empire. </p><p>Nevil led him up to the front to join the lineup, staying close with a hand almost always resting on Eli’s shoulder. Nobody paid them much attention; at least not that Eli noticed. He still felt foggy and dazed, moving automatically, directed by the warm pressure of Nevil’s hand. </p><p>When they got to a series of dispensers in the wall, he copied Nevil and pressed a thumb to each control pad in turn as they moved along. The first dispenser spat out a thin plastic tray, barely more than a molded sheet of flimsiplast; the second, a sealed pouch of water; and the third, the food itself. If any of it could really even be called food. Eli stuck his tray into the dispenser when it was his turn and then stared dumbly at the selection buttons until Nevil reached over and hit a few for him. </p><p>Despite the unappetizing look of it all, Eli’s stomach rumbled loudly in reminder of just how hungry he really was as they moved on and left the dispensers to the others behind them. It didn’t really <em> look </em> like food, just different coloured thick pastes— but it <em> smelled </em>like food, at least. He followed Nevil to an empty end of one table and sat, fumbling open the water pouch and thirstily gulping most of it down in one go before looking around in confusion for utensils. </p><p>“Here,” Nevil said, reaching under the edge of his own tray. With a muted crackle, a bit of plastic vaguely in the shape of a flattened spoon snapped off into his hand. Eli felt under the edges of his tray, fingers encountering the smoothed edge of his own… utensil. </p><p>He snapped it off like Nevil had done and frowned down at the spoon-like object in his hand. “That’s… it?” </p><p>Nevil snorted, already eating. “Yup. Nothing that could be used as a weapon, right? These aren’t strong or sharp enough to be much use for anything at all, really. But make sure you dump it in the recycler along with the tray before you go. You’ll still be in for it if they find you with any of these outside the mess hall.” </p><p>Eli was still staring at his flimsy little spoon. The idea of getting in trouble for keeping <em>that…</em> He had a lot to get used to here. </p><p>His stomach grumbled again, loud and insistent, and he felt his face warm at the little smile that tugged at Nevil’s lips. The older man didn’t say anything though, his eyes casually travelling around the room while he ate without looking at his food. Eli dug in to his own meal, hesitantly at first; then more eagerly. It didn’t taste awful, the flavour and texture no worse than what he’d gotten used to on runs with his family’s shipping company before enrolling at the Academy. </p><p>Memories flooded in without warning, making Eli’s stomach clench and his throat close up. He gripped his little spoon handle hard enough that it made a soft crackling sound of stressed plastic, and Nevil glanced over at him. </p><p>“Just breathe. Don’t think about it,” Nevil said. “If you don’t eat now you’ll go hungry till morning.” </p><p>Gritting his teeth, Eli nodded. Forcing the memories and thoughts of his family, his old life, out of his mind, he started eating again, a little slower this time so he wouldn’t hurt his stomach. He was already starting to feel a little more alert, between the water and the food. Nevil had gone back to looking around the room— watching for threats, maybe, Eli thought— and wasn’t trying to make conversation. Eli found himself relaxing slightly, quiet gratitude welling up almost painfully in his chest for this stranger who had stepped in to help him for no reason. </p><p>At least, for no reason that Eli had thought of until now. </p><p>Eli froze; then kept chewing slowly— not that the food actually needed chewing, but old habits died hard— while surreptitiously studying the man across the table from him, wondering if all this apparent kindness was just a front. Maybe this Nevil was just more subtle than the bearded guy outside bunkroom DR. </p><p>“I know what you’re thinking,” Nevil commented, without actually looking at him. Eli almost dropped his spoon, lowering his gaze to his tray and fidgeting nervously. “I’m not one of <em> them. </em>I don’t expect any kind of payback or debt, and certainly not like that. But it’s good to have friends in here if you can. Especially for someone like you.” </p><p>Eli glanced up to find Nevil watching him. “What do you mean, ‘someone like me’?” he asked slowly, not sure whether he was nervous or indignant. </p><p>Nevil snorted, but a sad smile touched his lips. “Come on, kid. You look as though you might faint if anyone so much as looks at you sideways. And you’re not exactly as… worn-looking as the rest of us.” Eli flushed, and Nevil’s voice dropped. “I don’t know what the Imps think you did, but it’s obvious you don’t belong here.” </p><p>“I’m not a <em> kid,</em>” Eli muttered, ignoring the rest. He didn’t even know why he was arguing. He knew what Nevil was getting at, and he knew Nevil was right. He just… didn’t want him to be. </p><p>Nevil just shrugged, holding his hands up in a gesture of peace. “Alright. But I gotta call you something, don’t I?” </p><p>“Why do you even care?” Eli snapped, instead of answering. He felt tears pricking at his eyes again and angrily blinked them away. “Why are you helping me if you don’t get anything out of it?” </p><p>Nevil sighed, glancing around again before meeting Eli’s eyes. “On your own, you’ll get eaten alive in this shithole before your first week is out. Call me a sucker for lost causes if you want, I just… I don’t like seeing bad things happen to good people if I can do something about it. That’s all. You tell me to fuck off and leave you alone, I will.” </p><p>He looked earnest. He sounded earnest, too. Not that Eli would have been able to tell if he was lying, of course. </p><p>Eli suddenly felt very, very tired, and very small and alone and helpless. And Nevil was the only person who’d been even remotely kind to him, since… Since the life he knew had ended in a hail of blaster fire the day after his twentieth birthday.  </p><p>“Eli,” Eli said softly, pushing the last of his food aimlessly around the tray with his little spoon. </p><p>“My name is Eli.” </p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's technically Sunday, even if it's really early! <i>I made it!!</i><br/>Ongoing thanks to Rev for beta-ing 💙</p><p>Minor <b>CW</b> heads-up for this chapter, there's a briefly referenced past suicide. Not graphic.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>…</p><p>Eli’s fatigue was beginning to set back in by the time he finished eating, though he still felt better than when he’d arrived. Nevil had insisted Eli take half of his water, in addition to his own portion, and Eli had protested… but not much. The extra had helped soothe the parched feeling left over from the long ride in the transport ship, and the headache he hadn’t quite noticed he had was diminishing. </p><p>He didn’t remember much detail at all from his time on the prisoner transport, too stunned at the time to process much of what went on around him. He was fairly certain he’d been on there for a couple standard cycles, give or take. And while they hadn’t been fed at all, he remembered being given the occasional small amount of water, and being ushered to the cramped vac toilet in the back every now and then. He supposed he must have slept some in his seat… but it was mostly all a blur. </p><p>As the food and water kicked in, Eli gradually became more aware of how exhausted and… <em> gross </em> he was. He looked down at himself, wrinkling his nose with a grimace at the state of his clothes. He had no idea how he looked, but if the way he smelled was any indication… </p><p>Nevil saw him inspecting himself and huffed a laugh. “C’mon. If we go now, we can probably beat the worst of the shower rush,” he said, standing and picking up his tray. </p><p>“The shower rush?” Eli asked nervously, following suit. He glanced around as Nevil led the way back to the exit, taking in more detail now that he was feeling more alert. The long mess hall tables were mostly full of other prisoners still eating or just talking, all wearing the same grey jumpsuit as Nevil. A sudden uproar at a nearby table made Eli jump in alarm, his heart racing, but the yelling was already devolving into raucous laughter instead. </p><p>“Try not to show you’re nervous,” Nevil murmured. “You’ll attract attention you don’t want, twitching like that.” </p><p>Eli nodded, trying to calm the rush of adrenaline still jittering through his veins as he followed Nevil towards the door. They dumped their trays, empty water pouches, and tray-spoons into a recycler by the exit and headed back towards the main room. </p><p>“The shower banks in the washroom are only open between end of shift and lights-out,” Nevil explained as he led the way through the big rec room. There were a handful of people in there. Most of them were gathered around a large, cracked viewscreen that seemed to be playing an old vid Eli didn’t recognize, but a few others were at one of several beat up looking Dejarik tables. “We all have to shower before bedding down for the night. It’s one of the rules they’re strict on down here, so make sure you don’t miss them. I imagine it saves them on laundry. There’s no way to avoid how filthy us <em> workers </em> get down in the tunnels every day,” he added, a faint bitterness creeping into his voice. </p><p>“Workers?” Eli asked after a moment, frowning as he digested what Nevil was saying. </p><p>“That’s what they call us,” Nevil answered darkly. “The Empire ‘doesn’t have slaves’, of course. So they have to call us something else. Goddamn hypocrites.” </p><p>Eli looked around nervously, half-expecting stormtroopers to leap out from a hidden alcove in the narrow hallway and execute Nevil where he stood. </p><p>“Don’t worry,” Nevil said as they emerged into a large communal refresher, which, again, looked a lot like the one for the gym back at Myomar Academy. “There <em> are </em> a few places with surveillance, but not as many as you might expect. For the most part, they ignore us so long as daily production quotas are filled, you’re seen working hard enough, and nobody makes <em> too </em>much trouble.” </p><p>“Really?” Eli asked, frowning and looking around for potential cameras. The room was quite warm, unlike the main room and the mess hall had been, and the air was slightly steamy with a faint sulfurous smell. He could hear the sound of water running and splashing from off to one side and there was a long series of what looked like standard toilet cubicles to the other. </p><p>“Yeah. We’re underground, so access points are extremely limited already,” Nevil said, stopping in front of another recycling chute set into one wall and tugging his undershirt off over his head. Eli looked away. “The only way out is likely through that exit off the central hub, so the people actually running the place don’t bother coming down here much. Guards <em> do </em>come into the worker areas every now and then for random checks, looking for anything like rock from the mine, meal trays, hoarded water or clothes. Anything that could even theoretically be used as a weapon, in particular. But most things are automated and linked to your thumbprint. You would have been scanned and all your biometrics recorded for that when you got here.” </p><p>Eli turned back to Nevil with a question on his tongue, wondering what the punishments were for infractions like… not showering or keeping a <em> plastic spoon, </em>compared to not working hard or ‘causing trouble’— then blushed and immediately looked away again. Nevil had finished undressing while talking and was casually stuffing his dirty jumpsuit and underclothes into the chute, stark naked. </p><p>“You’ll get used to it,” Nevil said, shrugging one bare shoulder and apparently completely unbothered by his own nudity. But he moved aside, turning away a little so he wasn’t looking straight at Eli. “Hurry up, though. Unless you want a whole lot more company in here before you’re done.” </p><p>Swallowing nervously, Eli sidled over to the chute and started shedding his own grimy, sweat-stained clothes with a strange pang of sadness. They were the same ones he’d been wearing when he’d been arrested back home, and the last thing he had left of his own possessions. His own <em> life.  </em></p><p>“Will I get these back?” </p><p>Nevil shook his head, and his voice sounded sympathetic. “No. There’s a towel and a clean set of clothes for everyone every day. Socks, underwear, undershirt, and a jumpsuit for the mines. I suggest you get used to saving your jumpsuit for the morning, they get a little unpleasant after a full night and day in them. And they’re really not all that comfortable for sleeping in, anyway. I keep mine under my pillow so no one tries to steal it while I’m asleep.” </p><p>“People steal your clothes?” Eli asked, shoving the little dirty bundle of his own into the chute and awkwardly shifting in place, trying to cover himself without <em> looking </em>like he was trying to cover himself. </p><p>Nevil snorted, glanced briefly at Eli, and then headed deeper into the washroom, towards the sound of running water. Eli hurried along behind him. “People will steal whatever they can. There’s not much else around <em> to </em>steal, so they go with what there is. And the guards will just laugh and give you a random dirty suit if you ask for another. If you’re lucky, anyway.” </p><p>The showers looked like any other communal shower; although Eli admittedly hadn’t been in very many of those. There were some dividers, he was relieved to see, even if the showers weren’t fully separated into individual stalls. Each bank of showers had five nozzles in the wall. They looked clean, at least. </p><p>“I’m surprised there’s actual water,” Eli ventured. “I would’ve expected just sonic showers. For prisoners.” </p><p>He had been studiously avoiding paying any attention to the smattering of other people already in the showers, still too worried about making accidental eye contact with <em> anyone </em>in this place— but at a sudden, loud grunt and a gasp beside him, he unthinkingly glanced into one of the shower banks as he and Nevil walked past. </p><p>There were <em> four </em> people in there together, and they were very, <em> very </em>close, and clearly enjoying a whole lot more than just the hot water. </p><p>Eli flushed and hurriedly averted his eyes again, his face burning. Nevil, on the other hand, hardly seemed to notice and cared even less. </p><p>“You’ll get used to that, too,” he said dryly. “As to the water showers, my guess is this region has natural hot springs in addition to the trinium veins the mine follows. A good water shower requires less maintenance than most sonic showers, and the plumbing looks old enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if it was already here before the Empire took over local mining operations and converted the existing infrastructure to a labour prison. Lucky us, I guess,” he added wryly as they rounded one more corner to what appeared to be the final row of showers. “Don’t drink it, though. It’s safe to wash in, but it’s not treated for drinking. It’ll make you pretty sick.” </p><p>Nevil fell silent again as he thumbed one of the control panels in an empty set of showers on the back wall and stepped under the spray of water with his back to Eli. Eli hesitated, looking nervously around. He could still <em> hear </em>quietly echoing noises from the four they’d passed closer to the entrance— they certainly seemed to be getting… even more intimate, from the sound of it— but the room as a whole still seemed fairly quiet. And Nevil was, as far as Eli could tell, making a point of showering without looking at him.  </p><p>Hitting the control panel at the far end of the same shower bank— uncomfortable as he was, he found himself more uneasy about the prospect of being alone and out of sight of Nevil— Eli stepped under the hot water himself. He couldn’t help the little grateful sigh that escaped him as the water sprayed over his skin, washing away days’ worth of sweat and grime. Eyes frequently darting around to glance over his shoulder, Eli found the body wash dispenser and quickly lathered himself up, then rinsed off just as hurriedly. </p><p>Getting his hair clean was… difficult. He didn’t really want to close his eyes, and he didn’t really want to turn and face outwards either, in case someone else came by. Especially the bearded, tattooed creep from before. </p><p>He settled for just getting his hair wet and scrubbing quickly at his scalp with his fingers until it all felt a little less greasy. </p><p>“Who was that?” Eli finally asked quietly, clearing his throat nervously and fidgeting while he waited for Nevil to finish washing. “Back by my bunkroom?” </p><p>Nevil grunted, glancing over briefly. Eli very carefully kept his body and his gaze turned mostly away. Nevil might have <em> said </em>he didn’t expect anything, but the last thing Eli wanted was to accidentally… imply something. </p><p>“Those guys I said you don’t want to draw attention from? He’s one of them.” Nevil’s voice hardened. “The last new arrival who got assigned to Angel’s room hung himself less than a month after he got here. I wasn’t going to let it happen again.” </p><p>He shut his water off and Eli did the same, looking around for a towel dispenser. </p><p>“They’re back near the exit,” Nevil said, and strode out of the shower dripping wet. Blushing, and trying not to, Eli followed. </p><p>Nevil led him back to where they’d come in, and Eli tried very hard not to notice what was now going on very loudly in that one particular shower bank as they passed it by once again. The towels and clean clothes were, unsurprisingly, also both dispensed by thumbprint— to make sure prisoners couldn’t take more than their allocated daily supplies, Nevil explained. Though it also served to ensure no one could send others to do ‘chores’ for them, the main reason was to avoid anyone stockpiling supplies of any kind. </p><p>“Like I said, the guards do random checks of the bunks fairly regularly, to make sure no one’s been stocking anything at all,” Nevil said, when Eli asked why the recycler chutes didn’t work by thumbprint, too. “It would probably be more difficult to track what goes in the different chutes, and once we dump stuff in there, we have no more access till it’s distributed fresh again anyway. It’s really a question of limiting anything that could be seen as a possession, or materials that could theoretically be useful in bartering systems between workers, or used to attack the guards.” </p><p>“I guess that makes sense,” Eli said as they dressed. Nevil left his jumpsuit only partly zipped up again and Eli imitated him, though he pulled his own zip a bit… higher up, cinching the attached belt so the top half hung down from his waist rather than sitting low on his hips. “I assume they make sure no one tries to bring anything back from the tunnels?” </p><p>“Exactly,” Nevil said as they re-entered the central room. “They’re not too lenient if they catch anyone doing that.” </p><p>“Are they lenient with anything?” </p><p>“Heh. Good point,” Nevil said with a crooked smirk. “Not really, no.” </p><p>The central room had already filled up a fair bit since they’d gone into the washroom to shower, but one Dejarik table was still free. Eli followed Nevil to it, realizing with a sick jolt of fear about halfway across the room that Angel was nearby, watching them with a dark, sneering glower on his face. </p><p>Eli tried to ignore him, suddenly aware of his own posture and straightening his spine in an attempt to look… He wasn’t quite sure; more confident than he felt, maybe. Or maybe just to try and look a little bigger than he really was. </p><p>“What <em> does </em> happen if you break the rules?” he asked Nevil as they settled in at the round holotable together. He listened as best he could while Nevil explained about solitary confinement and workers having a tendency to disappear in suspicious ‘mining accidents’ down in the tunnels if they caused one too many problems. He was almost dead on his feet and just wanted to go to sleep, but the <em> last </em> thing he wanted was to go back to his assigned bunkroom with ‘Angel’. He still, he realized, didn’t quite know what Nevil had meant, or even what the man intended to do about it, when he’d said earlier that Eli had the wrong room. </p><p>But Eli was too nervous to ask, not entirely sure he wanted to find out. Even though he knew he would before long. About all he could manage to do at this point was follow Nevil’s lead… and hope fervently that he’d gotten the right read of the man. </p><p>…</p><hr/><p>…</p><p>“Come on, you can share my bunk tonight,” Nevil said, shutting off the game board and getting to his feet. </p><p>It was a bit early yet, but anyone in the Lounge who noticed them heading to Nevil’s bunkroom would likely assume he was taking Eli to bed early to get some time in with a bit of privacy. Not that that was Nevil’s intention, but he had very carefully walked the line all evening between not spooking Eli, while still giving everyone else— and Angel in particular— the clear impression that he’d claimed Eli for his own. And that anyone who wanted to disagree would have to go through him to get to the new kid. </p><p>Eli blinked and startled slightly, but pushed wearily to his feet as well. He looked about half dead from exhaustion. </p><p>“I won’t… get in trouble?” he asked hesitantly, his eyes darting nervously around the room and pausing briefly on Angel. “For not… not being in my assigned room?” </p><p>“No,” Nevil said patiently. “You won’t. Like I said, the guards really don’t care what we do in here, so long as it doesn’t get out of hand or cause trouble for them. Come on. I’ll call in a favour or make a deal and get a bunk freed up for you in my room as soon as I can. Until then, you can share mine. It’ll be a bit tight, but… Well, better than the alternative,” he added darkly, glancing across the room towards Angel. The lanky man was watching them with a scowl again, and Nevil gazed back at him steadily for a moment before turning away. </p><p>Eli just nodded silently, trailing along behind as Nevil led the way to his own assigned bunkroom, which, happily, was nearly opposite from Angel’s.  </p><p>They drew a few speculative, considering looks, Nevil noticed; but aside from Angel and his little gang, he didn’t think anyone was going to cause trouble for him or Eli. He had, for the most part, managed to build up a decent degree of respect from the other inmates— and more importantly, had avoided getting on anyone’s bad side. </p><p>Until now, at least. On the upside, it meant most people wouldn’t bother arguing with him over Eli— and since he didn’t have any enemies in here that he knew of, it was unlikely anyone would have a go at <em> Eli </em> just to get to <em> him. </em>The downside, though, was it had unfortunately also meant gritting his teeth and avoiding getting involved in other prisoner’s affairs more than once. No matter how guilty he felt about it at times. </p><p>He’d regretted that last time. He hadn’t been able to stand by and regret it again. </p><p>In some ways, it was almost a <em> good </em> thing that Eli’d had the bad luck to be assigned to that room— the sight of the clearly terrified, young, bewildered newcomer realizing what he was in for had given Nevil’s cynically stifled conscience a serious kick, one he hadn’t been able to ignore. Whereas if Eli had wound up somewhere else, Nevil most likely would have just let it be and hoped the kid wouldn’t end up taken under someone else’s dubious ‘protection’. </p><p>Glancing sideways at Eli, who was following close beside and half a pace behind him while they made their way around the edge of the room, Nevil stifled a sigh. No, Eli would not have lasted long on his own. Not with <em> that </em> face, and definitely not in the state he’d been on his arrival— overwhelmed, hungry and tired and dehydrated, and obviously <em> completely </em>out of his depth in a place like this.</p><p>Nevil trusted most of his own bunkmates at least, to an extent. He’d managed to exchange a few favours over the… probably nearly a year he’d been in here, now, and he’d made sure none of the more problematic inmates were in his wing. Eli should be safe enough with him, assuming everyone bought the act he’d been playing. He had no intention whatsoever of following through on that act, though. Like he’d told Eli, he wasn’t the type to force anyone into his bed in exchange for his protection… But it was important that people <em> believed </em>he’d laid claim to Eli, one way or another. </p><p>It was fairly standard for people to pair up or group off, at least. Sometimes for that sort of protection favour, yes; but just as often for the companionship and the intimacy. For the small comfort, however faint, of normalcy. </p><p>Of a <em> life. </em></p><p>He had to hand it to the Imps, in some ways. They kept things <em> just </em>comfortable enough that most people wouldn’t bother risking the life they did have in an almost assuredly ill-fated attempt at escape. </p><p>Nevil, however, was not most people. He merely knew how to be patient, and not draw attention to himself while he waited for something in the hand he’d been dealt to change. Though he admittedly had been in here longer than he would have liked, he absolutely did not plan to die down in this bleak pit. Nor was he going to just wait for the wheels of bureaucracy and punishment to turn, while hoping the Empire decided to release him one day. </p><p>If he was being honest, he knew full well he hadn’t done himself any favours today, saddling himself with a brand new arrival and one who had immediately attracted the attention of every dirtbag in the complex. Because Angel had gotten one thing right, at least… Eli was, without doubt, the very definition of a <em> pretty boy. </em> Nevil wasn’t even sure how much the kid <em> realized </em>that— he wasn’t completely clueless; he’d obviously known exactly what Nevil meant about the wrong kind of attention— but whatever his past was, he wasn’t prepared for this existence in the slightest. </p><p>No, he may not have been doing <em> himself </em>a favour— but as he walked into his room and turned to look at Eli, Nevil was hit hard with the slightly uncomfortable knowledge that he couldn’t really have lived with himself otherwise. </p><p>Eli had paused in the entryway, his face drawn and exhausted, his prison clothes hanging loosely on his slim frame, and was looking around with wide, nervous eyes at the empty sleeping chamber. No one else had come back for the night yet— and Nevil was fairly certain his bunkmates had probably noticed him bringing Eli back here and would give them some time. </p><p>Unfortunately, from the look on Eli’s face, he was thinking along the same lines. And without the benefit of knowing Nevil much at all, the way the others did. </p><p>“You can trust me, Eli,” Nevil said softly, striving for earnest. Open. Those big brown eyes turned to him, but Eli didn’t say anything. “I know it’s hard for you to trust anyone right now— and honestly, you shouldn’t. But… I promise you, this is <em> only </em>for appearances’ sake.” </p><p>“Appearances?” Eli asked quietly, taking a tentative half step into the room. He didn’t take his eyes off Nevil for a second. </p><p>“Yes. Those guys in the shower? And many others, they pair off and group up. Not everyone does, and it’s not always coerced, or even sexual… Though, unfortunately, yes, sometimes it is. Angel is one of those. Many of us aren’t. In any case, people will assume I took a liking to you and decided to keep you for myself.” Nevil sighed, stripping off his jumpsuit and folding it neatly as he spoke to tuck it away under his pillow. Eli just watched him silently. “I’ll let them think I did, I’ll even encourage it as much as is necessary to get them believing it so they leave you alone. But I swear, I have no intention of actually following through on it, that way. You don’t owe me. I won’t make you do anything, and I won’t <em> ever </em> expect you to. I couldn’t.” </p><p>Eli’s throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, still watching Nevil carefully in silence— and then he nodded, dropping his gaze and unzipping his own jumpsuit. He folded it up and crawled into Nevil’s bed in his underclothes, stuffing his suit under the single pillow as well before curling up facing the wall in a tight little ball under the covers. </p><p>Nevil was pretty sure he felt his heart crack a little bit in his chest. </p><p>Climbing into bed as well, he carefully slid in behind Eli. He tugged the thin covers up under his armpit, then gently wrapped his arm around Eli’s waist over top of the blanket in a calculatedly possessive gesture. Eli stiffened at the touch, his whole body going so tense Nevil could feel him shivering. And probably not from cold. </p><p>“It’s okay, Eli,” Nevil said softly. “Just appearances, remember? I promise.” </p><p>The silence stretched, until Eli finally broke it again with a single word, his voice barely more than a cracked whisper. </p><p>“Why?” </p><p>Nevil shrugged helplessly. “Like I said before… I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing. Not again. You’re not the only one who doesn’t deserve to be locked up here, Eli. We’re not all bad people in here. You’re probably too young to know, but… The Empire imprisons a lot of people unjustly. Sometimes worse. This place isn’t nearly as bad as some I’ve heard about, and it’s a big step up from an execution without so much as a trial.” </p><p>Eli started trembling in his arms, and it took Nevil a moment to realize he was crying, silent sobs shaking his entire small frame. Nevil’s heart wrenched again, in empathetic pain; and in anger as well. Maybe Eli <em> did </em> know, at that. And as it had done so many times over his life, it struck Nevil once again that… the Empire really did have a <em> lot </em>to answer for. </p><p>Right now, though, there was nothing he could do about that. Nothing, except to offer what little comfort he could to someone who desperately needed it. </p><p>Tentatively raising a hand, Nevil stroked his fingers lightly through Eli’s hair and let the kid cry himself to sleep. </p><p>…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>(Testing out the ellipsis option for section breaks/spacing with screen-readers/TTS in mind.. lmk how it worked for you if you're using one!)</p><p>Edit: you might have noticed the chapter count drop; I've been restructuring a bit and splitting/re-merging scenes for better chapters flow! I haven't cut anything out, you'll just get to see it sooner ;)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>No added tags or content warnings for this chapter 😉<br/>(Thank you again Rev, for the beta and feedback!)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>…</p><p>Eli woke up with a jolt to the strident sound of an unfamiliar alarm. He sat bolt upright with no idea where he was, panicking for a moment until a vaguely familiar voice spoke beside him. </p><p>“Hey, hey, relax. You’re okay, kid. It’s just the wake-up call.” </p><p>Eli looked around, his memories of last night flooding back at the sight of Nevil’s concerned face. </p><p>Right. </p><p>Relaxing slightly, he loosened his death grip on the coarse bedcover. He’d slept better than he would have expected, considering… And to his immense relief, Nevil had kept his word. Nothing had happened. </p><p>Well, nothing except… Eli’s cheeks heated at the memory of breaking down into tears last night. The last thing he remembered was sobbing helplessly with a hand stroking softly through his hair, the touch confusingly both unwanted yet comforting at the time. </p><p>Though now; now he found he really did appreciate it. </p><p>“Thank you,” he said, glancing at Nevil with a weak, not terribly successful, attempt at a smile. </p><p>Nevil smiled back anyway and gave him a conspiratorial wink, climbing out of bed with a meaningful look around the room as he leaned down to grab his jumpsuit. Sure enough, now that he was paying attention, Eli could hear the sounds of other people stirring, rustles and thumps as everyone who wasn’t already up climbed out of bed and got dressed for the day. </p><p>…For the day down in the mines. </p><p>His feeling of relief evaporating, Eli swallowed hard and fished his own suit out from under the pillow as he clambered out of bed. He kept his eyes down as he pulled it on, surreptitiously watching the others leaving the room. He had no idea whether the ‘act’ called for him to look beaten, or smugly pleased with himself, or what. A couple men shot him and Nevil knowing looks as they passed, and Eli flushed. At least that probably meant the ruse was working just fine. </p><p>After a much-needed stop at the washrooms, he followed Nevil back over to the cafeteria for what passed as breakfast. It was essentially the same stuff they’d had last night, although this time Eli was with it enough to make the ‘meal’ selections on his own. Not that it made much difference to the level of <em> appetizing, </em>but at least they had a half-decent selection of flavours. As far as he could tell, more alert today, it was essentially the same standard fibre- and nutrient-paste he’d grown up with on board working vessels. </p><p>“Do we come back here for lunch, too?” Eli asked as he and Nevil found a pair of seats away from the louder clusters of people. </p><p>“Mm. Nope,” Nevil said around a mouthful of food. “Midday meal is water and ration bars in the tunnels. I doubt they want to waste time bringing us up here and back down again.” </p><p>They ate in silence until Eli asked quietly, “How hard is it?” </p><p>“It’s pretty rough down there,” Nevil said bluntly. “I won’t sugar-coat it. It’s hot and it’s loud and it’s hard work, every single day. Lot of heavy lifting. But you’ll get through it. They aren’t… <em> entirely </em>unreasonably long days, either. I’m certain they have two mining shifts running here, we’re just kept separate.” </p><p>Eli grunted noncommittally in answer, ravenously shovelling down the last of his breakfast and trying not to worry about the day ahead too much. Worrying wasn’t going to make one bit of difference in how it went. </p><p>He and Nevil had just gotten up to bring their empty trays to the recycler when a different but equally loud alarm sounded once. </p><p>“There’s first warning,” Nevil commented as they waited their turn for the chute by the exit. “We get two warnings and if you haven’t gotten out to the central hub by the third, you’re in trouble.” </p><p>“What do they do to you for that?” Eli asked as he followed Nevil through to the big main room. They headed for the entrance he’d come in the night before. The wide double door was open again, a line of prisoners trickling through it and disappearing into the corridor. “Do they just execute you?” </p><p>Nevil snorted. “Nah. They’d run out of workforce pretty quick if <em> any </em> infraction was an immediate death sentence. Like with the rest of it, they keep track. Too many late starts or reports of not working hard enough down below, and you’ll find yourself shipped off somewhere else. I’m not sure where, exactly,” he added, his voice getting a little quieter as they passed through the exit, “but I’d bet good credits it’s somewhere worse than here. Maybe wherever it is they send people unlucky enough to be more obviously non-human,” Nevil said darkly before falling silent. </p><p>Eli nodded, trying not to shrink in on himself as they made their way down the rock-walled corridor. It wasn’t quite as oppressive as his memory of it from the night before, but it still set his stomach tightening with nerves. </p><p>The walk felt somehow both longer and shorter than it had yesterday, and it wasn’t long before he and Nevil emerged into the large, circular room where Eli vaguely remembered getting scanned. He looked around as they made their way through along with the others, waiting in a quick-moving line for something up ahead that he couldn’t see yet. </p><p>Like the mess hall, this… central hub looked like any standard Imperial installation. There were a number of heavy security doors leading off it— closed and locked, just like before, except for the one the line of ‘workers’ was disappearing into ahead of them— and several unarmoured Imperial guards were manning the security desk. In addition, half a squad of stormtroopers were split between the two open doorways, keeping a watchful eye— he supposed, anyway— on the line of grey-suited prisoners moving from one tunnel to the next. </p><p>The non-stormtrooper guards didn’t have blasters, he noticed; just stun batons. They looked like… not much more than uniformed bureaucrats in comparison to the troopers in their gleaming white armour and eyeless helmets, blaster rifles at the ready. </p><p>One of those white helmets turned its deceptively blank gaze towards Eli, and he shivered and looked away, a tumult of confused emotions tumbling through him. Like most kids he’d grown up with, he’d gone through a phase where he wanted to <em> be </em> a stormtrooper when he grew up, even though on backwater planets like Lysatra, you didn’t actually see real live stormtroopers anywhere. They were… distant creatures, faceless heroes you watched in holovids and on newsfeeds. They could be anyone, which meant anyone could be <em> them.  </em></p><p>The first time in his life Eli had ever seen stormtroopers in person was when he’d arrived at Myomar Academy a lifetime ago. The only time he’d ever seen stormtroopers on Lysatra <em> itself </em>was when a squad had shown up without warning one morning, blown his parents’ front door to smithereens, and— </p><p>Nevil nudged him forward sharply and Eli startled, shaking his head to get rid of his bleak thoughts. The day was going to be hard enough without dwelling on painful memories. </p><p>They had left the central processing room behind and started moving down the opened corridor while he’d been lost in his own head, and he finally got to see what the lineup was for: yet another dispenser in the wall. </p><p>And it was his turn. </p><p>Eli nervously thumbed the control. A brief moment later, the wall panel swished open to reveal— </p><p>Boots. </p><p>Eli blinked in brief surprise and then grabbed them, moving aside to give Nevil room at the dispenser. He tugged them on and waited while Nevil did the same, shifting in place to get used to the unfamiliar footwear. They were bulkier than anything he was used to wearing, but they fit alright, all things considered. </p><p>Once Nevil had stepped into his boots as well, they clumped down the short hallway together in silence, heading for what looked like a bank of turbolifts. The lifts were the large, industrial sort; but even so, the one Eli and Nevil got into filled up quickly with other workers, all in the same dark grey work jumpsuits and worn, heavy boots. </p><p>As the heavy doors thumped shut and the lift began moving downwards with a lurch, it started to sink in for Eli just <em> how many </em>people were imprisoned here. The mess hall and main room back in the… living area, he supposed, were big enough spaces that they gave a skewed sense of how many people there really were. It was suddenly different, somehow, now that he’d seen so many bodies filing down the corridors, lining up and crowding onto lifts together. </p><p>Not better or worse, just… different. </p><p>Nevil stayed silent the whole ride down and Eli followed suit, still shifting his feet surreptitiously in his boots. He hadn’t quite gotten the tabs fastened right, and now one boot was too loose and the other a little too tight. He ignored them for now, unwilling to draw attention to himself by fiddling with the fastenings in the crowd. </p><p>The lift ground to a halt and the doors thumped open again, onto…</p><p>Eli gaped as he walked out of the lift, impressed despite himself by the sheer <em> scale </em>of the cavern they emerged into. The rocky ceiling soared away above him, supported here and there by enormous stone pillars, clearly hewn out of the natural rock. Left behind as the area was mined out, maybe? </p><p>All around the edges of the massive open space was machinery; for what, Eli didn’t know. Some of it looked like smallish trains loaded with square metal containers, and as Eli squinted across the cavern at them, he thought he saw the glint of rails leading in and out of dark tunnels in the walls. He could hear the hum of working machinery, too. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once, the echoes of the cavern only adding to the directionless quality of the noise. It was, he realized, a little bit like being on a ship, where the sounds of the engines and life support systems hummed constantly through the walls and floors in a comforting, familiar sort of way. </p><p>“What’s all that for?” Eli asked Nevil as they walked, nodding towards the nearest machinery-lined wall. </p><p>Nevil grunted. “Ventilation and plumbing, essentially,” he said, raising his voice over the noise. “This far underground on a planet with a water table, we’d suffocate or flood without breathable air being circulated in and water being pumped out.” </p><p>Eli swallowed and fell silent, eyeing the rock walls nervously. Not so far off a ship’s life support systems, then, after all— though for someone used to either the open skies of Lysatra or the vast emptiness of space, the concept of that much solid rock above his head was… disconcerting, to say the least. Not to mention the idea that they might also be surrounded by huge pockets of underground water. </p><p>Under the watchful eyes of more guards— no stormtroopers, though— Eli, Nevil, and the rest of the prisoners trailed away from the lift doors and towards yet another lineup that ended in yet another thumb print control panel. This one, though, had no dispenser chute, Eli realized as they got closer. Instead, it had a long bank of large metal storage bins. As each worker pressed a thumb to the panel, one in a series of heavy-duty hatches slammed open. Eli watched with mixed curiosity and trepidation, once he was close enough to see, as each prisoner reached in and pulled out what must be their tools for the day, and then trudged further into the underground cavern. </p><p>At a subtle nod from Nevil, Eli went first once it was their turn, hauling out one of the same large, handheld drills that the last several people before him had gotten. One of the guards turned and frowned at him when he just stood there holding it, and Eli hastily hefted the power tool in both hands and moved on, following the man who’d gone just before him. He glanced back hesitantly as he walked, realizing that although he hadn’t stopped to think about it till now… there was presumably no guarantee he and Nevil would even be working together down here. While the majority of people ahead seemed to be heading in the same direction, disappearing into a tunnel entrance in the far wall, Eli could see a smaller number veering off just before reaching it, watched by another pair of the unarmoured guards. </p><p>Fortunately, Nevil caught him up before he had time to really start worrying about it. </p><p>“Good,” Nevil said. “We’re both on drilling today. Stick close and we shouldn’t have any problem working the same mining site.” </p><p>“There’s more than one?” Eli asked as Nevil fell into step next to him. Nevil had casually slung his own drill over one shoulder and Eli copied him, finding it just as heavy but a little less cumbersome than carrying it in front of him with both hands the way he had been. The thing was <em> massive. </em>It had two handles, a roughly triangular body, and with the long, thick metal rod thing coming out the bottom, it was about half as tall as Eli himself was. Maybe more. </p><p>“Sort of,” Nevil replied. “There are several active drilling sites at any given time. They spread us through those, but they’re all in the same general location.” </p><p>“What do we actually <em> do </em>down here all day?” Eli asked as they crossed the huge cavern under glaring floodlights. It was uncomfortably warm despite the fact that they were nearly in the centre of the massive, wide-open space, the noise of rattling trains and humming machinery not any quieter here than it had been by the turbolifts. </p><p>“We do three standard jobs,” Nevil explained. “We aren’t allowed anywhere near the blasting, I’m pretty sure they use Imperial personnel and droids for that. And they only do it when we’re off-shift. Supposedly for safety, but I suspect it’s mainly to make sure we don’t have any access to the explosives used. But there are always several active sites where the drillers—” he patted the machine on his shoulder— “break up the large pieces of potentially trinium-containing bedrock that have been cracked off by shaped charges.” </p><p>“Okay,” Eli said. </p><p>“You can always tell what job you’re on by what you get at the start of the day,” Nevil continued as they drew nearer to the tunnel entrance in the wall, the one most of the other workers were traipsing into. “They rotate us randomly through the jobs. So we never know for sure what station we’ll be on, but it’s always drillers needed most. Aside from breaking down those large pieces of rock into smaller, more manageable chunks, the drillers’ job is to load up those smaller chunks onto the conveyors that take them to the processing station. We’ll be passing by that on our way through.” </p><p>“So where are they going?” Eli asked, watching as a couple men in front of them split off from the rest. They didn’t have drills, but they each had a pair of thick gloves and were carrying some kind of visored helmet under one arm. The guards stationed at the apparent split-off point both fixed Eli with matching glowers, and he found himself having to bite back sudden, slightly hysterical laughter at the incongruous mental image of a bunch of prison guards sitting through academy-style training sessions on how to <em> glare properly.  </em></p><p>“They’re on smelting duty,” Nevil said as they moved into the tunnel. It was less bright here, and less noisy in terms of sheer loud racket, but somehow possibly even worse with the way the whole narrow passageway seemed to be reverberating, echoing with a constant low thrumming of machinery and punctuated by occasional distant sharper sounds that Eli couldn’t identify. </p><p>“That’s the worst of it, if you ask me,” Nevil continued, his face darkening into a scowl. “Those face shields are decent protection from the heat, but they do absolutely nothing for the fumes. But that’s a long-term health problem, not an immediate one. So even though breathing masks would be easy enough to provide, the Imps don’t give a shit about that.” </p><p>As they walked through the tunnel, Eli noticed they regularly passed barricades blocking off side tunnels, leading to what he presumed were defunct mining areas. The ground was getting rougher too, the farther they went, the rock floor not worn nearly as smooth as it had been in the first big cavern. They must be getting closer to the newer, active mining sites, Eli realized nervously. </p><p>“How do you know so much about… mining set ups?” he asked, deflecting his growing anxiety into curiosity. “Have you been here <em> that </em>long?” </p><p>Nevil was silent for so long, Eli was starting to regret prying and was casting about mentally for something to change the subject by the time the other man finally answered. “I was a miner by trade before I got thrown in here.” </p><p>“Oh,” Eli said, not sure how to respond. “I’m sorry.” </p><p>Nevil shrugged and shot him an odd little grin. “Just gives me the advantage of knowing how places like this work,” he said, and while Eli was trying to figure out what exactly he meant by that, Nevil was already moving on with his explanations.</p><p>“Through there,” he said, as they passed a guarded but unblocked tunnel that branched off theirs, “is where the crushers are.” </p><p>Eli blinked, shifting his drill on his shoulder. “The what?” </p><p>“The crushers,” Nevil repeated. “The processing station I mentioned before? They’re used to break down the chunks of rock to separate out the trinium ingots.” At Eli’s confused look, he elaborated. “Minerals don’t just come in handy pieces, clean and pure and ready to use. They’re all mixed in with the substrate, or the waste rock, in this case. So while this mine is set up to follow a thick, rich vein of the stuff, trinium itself is still only the minority of what’s there. </p><p>“Trinium in particular naturally forms as irregular, rounded globs of metal in the strata around it. Even in its solid state, though, it’s nowhere near as brittle as the rock itself. So, the crushers shatter the rock, and then we sort out the lumps of trinium from the rubble.” </p><p>“And then those go to the smelting station?” Eli guessed. </p><p>“Exactly,” Nevil said. He stopped walking as they came to a split in the tunnel, cocking his head to listen. Eli listened too, but aside from the echoing sounds of raised voices and the harsh noise of drilling, he couldn’t make out anything of note. Nevil, however, must have heard something, because after a few seconds he nodded to himself and strode off down the left tunnel. Eli hurried along behind him. “Smelting is pretty standard for a lot of metals, trinium included. It’s the easiest way to remove any impurities, and then the molten metal is poured into casts. You saw their gloves?” he asked, and Eli nodded. </p><p>“Yeah, nobody else had any.” </p><p>“Yup,” Nevil said. “The only reason we get them for smelting duty is because our benevolent overlords here don’t want to wait for the damn stuff to actually cool before the cast bricks are handled. More profitable to give us gloves and deal with the occasional nasty burn than it is to slow down production, or install more machinery. Especially recently.” </p><p>Eli frowned. “What do you mean?” </p><p>Nevil opened his mouth; then closed it again with a meaningful shake of his head. Confused, Eli fell silent as well— and just a few seconds later, they turned off down a short side tunnel and walked past a pair of guards into another open cavern. </p><p>This one was nowhere near as immense as the main one the turbolifts came into, but it was still pretty impressive. And <em> loud. </em> Other drillers must have started already, the staccato, rapid-fire impacts of steel on stone reverberating through the brightly-lit chamber. Eli followed Nevil around towards one side of the cavern that had obviously been partly worked already. </p><p>“I’ll tell you later,” Nevil finally said, hoisting his drill off his shoulder with a casual-seeming glance back at the guards. “As long as you keep working, they won’t pay much attention to you, but if anyone stands around chatting, well…” </p><p>Eli nodded, awkwardly wrestling his own drill off his already-sore shoulder and glancing around to see what the other prisoners scattered around the chamber were doing. </p><p>“Got it,” he said, wishing he was pretty much anywhere else in the galaxy but here. At least the conversation had kept him from dwelling on everything during the walk through the tunnels. </p><p>“Don’t kill yourself on your first day, though,” Nevil warned, getting himself set up at the end of a massive chunk of solid stone and talking quickly. “Trust me. You don’t want to look like you’re slacking, but you also don’t want to fuck up your back, or a wrist, or completely ruin your hands just because you’re not used to the work. They’ll give minor medical care if they think it’s worth it, but they won’t go easy on you if you’re sick or injured. Ever.” </p><p>Eli gulped, nodded again, and set the point of his drill to another rock outcropping near Nevil. </p><p>And then he got to work. </p><p>…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>…</p><p>The alarm signalling midday break rang out through the cavern, blaring loud enough to cut through even the sounds of drilling and rock being dumped into durasteel conveyor bins. </p><p>Nevil flicked off the motor of his drill and leaned the machine up against the rubble where he’d been working, glancing over at Eli again with a worried frown. Eli already looked miserable, sweat and dirt streaking his face, his arms visibly shaking as he fumbled his drill off as well and set it aside. </p><p>“You okay?” Nevil asked, taking Eli’s elbow to gently tug him toward the entrance where a droid should be arriving with rations and water before long. </p><p>Eli just nodded, a slightly glazed look in his eyes as he stumbled along with Nevil. “Why… what happened? What’s the alarm for?” </p><p>“It’s just lunchtime,” Nevil said. “We don’t have to get back to work until it goes off again. Okay?” </p><p>“Okay,” Eli said. His gaze turned longingly towards the nearby wall, and Nevil knew he wanted nothing more than to sink to ground right there. </p><p>Nevil didn’t let him. The guards might look bored now, but he’d seen the way they took note of new arrivals who didn’t handle their first days well. Nevil didn’t know if it was just because they were assholes, or if they actually had orders from higher up to help weed out prisoners whose work output might not make the supplies and space needed to feed and house them worth it. It could easily have been either. </p><p>Fortunately, the droid showed up almost immediately. Nevil and Eli were among the first in line to grab their food and water rations, and then Nevil led the way back to their little work space. After kicking some rubble out of the way, he sank down cross-legged with his back to the wall. Eli did the same beside him with a pained groan, sagging back with his eyes closed. </p><p>“Come on,” Nevil said, taking a gulp of tepid water and unwrapping his ration bar. “Food and water’ll help more than you think.” </p><p>Eli groaned again, but he followed suit, emptying a good half of his water pouch in one go. They ate in silence, save for the ever-present humming and ticking of the various pumps still working away in the background to keep them alive. The guards just watched them all from near the exit, one of them already fidgeting impatiently. </p><p>Nevil suppressed a snort, chewing on his bland ration bar. The guard change always came with the end of lunch break; presumably the two were impatient to get upstairs to their own food. Nevil always had wondered what they got to eat instead. He highly doubted the Imps ate the same slop they gave their prisoners. </p><p>He made sure to keep some of his own water again and slipped it to Eli, swapping it for Eli’s empty pouch when the guards weren’t looking their way. As far as he could tell, the mess hall dispensers adjusted portion size and water rations according to each prisoner’s needs, but Eli probably wouldn’t have another bio-scan for a few cycles yet. In the meantime, Nevil wouldn’t die from having a bit less water here and there. </p><p>“Better?” he asked as Eli finished the last of the water, crumpling up his ration bar wrapper and slumping back against the rock wall with a long sigh. </p><p>“Mm,” Eli grunted. “Thank you.” </p><p>“Don’t mention it,” Nevil said. “How are your hands doing?” </p><p>Eli didn’t open his eyes, just turned his open palms upward so Nevil could see them. “How bad are they?” </p><p>Nevil bit back a grimace. He’d seen worse, but Eli’s hands were already rubbed raw and slightly bloody in several places, the shallow wounds ground in with grit and rock dust. “You’re going to be sore for a few days,” he admitted. </p><p>Eli snorted quietly. “I’m already sore,” he said wearily; then his eyes opened again as he turned his head to look at Nevil. “It’s just gonna get worse, isn’t it?” </p><p>There was no point in lying. “Yeah. But it <em> will </em>get easier after that. Faster than you think. The work is tough, but not impossible when you get used to it.” </p><p>“I sure hope you’re right,” Eli said, with a bitter half-laugh. They sat in silence for a minute or two, enjoying the brief respite from the physical work, but Eli spoke again before long. “What were you saying before, about this stuff being more… what, profitable, recently?” he asked quietly— well, relatively speaking— glancing over at the guards and then looking at Nevil with a tired sort of curiosity. </p><p>“Ah.” Nevil lowered his voice too, drawing his knees up and resting his arms on them. “Well, trinium is a key component in weapons systems, right?” </p><p>“…If you say so,” Eli answered wryly, raising an eyebrow. </p><p>“Sorry,” Nevil said with a sheepish grin. “It’s used in some heavy blaster rifles and turrets, and most commonly in turbolasers. Anyway, after the Empire took over running the mining op I was working for, before I was arrested, I did some digging through… contacts. The Empire has been slowly and quietly buying up or just straight-up taking over mining operations all through the Outer Rim in recent years. Ones that produce some… <em> interesting </em>minerals, like trinium. And after being taken over, those newly Imperial-controlled mines were almost immediately upping their production. </p><p>“But none of that extra material was showing up in any of the markets, legitimate or otherwise. Not that I could find, anyway. And the entire time I’ve been <em> here, </em> they’ve been steadily increasing output, too.” </p><p>“Huh,” Eli said after a moment. “Somehow, I can’t imagine it’s to supply someone else with weapons.” </p><p>“Exactly,” Nevil said. </p><p>They fell silent again as the guards’ attention turned to their end of the cavern; and just after that, the alarm sounded to end lunch break. </p><p>“Halfway there,” Nevil said encouragingly as he and Eli climbed back to their feet. “You can do it.” </p><p>Eli just nodded wearily and picked up his drill again. </p><p>…</p><hr/><p>…</p><p>Nevil kept a fairly close eye on him for the rest of the shift, surreptitiously kicking drilled-out chunks from his own debris piles over to Eli whenever the guards weren’t looking. They kept an eye on the workers, but they couldn’t watch everyone all the time— and they didn’t really try to, either. </p><p>Carrying the trinium-containing rubble over to the conveyor was both more time-consuming and less exhausting than the actual drilling part. It was a little easier on the hands, too, if you were careful not to scrape yourself up too badly doing it. Nevil still made enough trips himself that the guards wouldn’t report either of them for not pulling their weight, but he managed to make the second half of Eli’s first day <em> slightly </em>less brutal. </p><p>When the alarm finally sounded to signal the end of the work shift, Eli briefly caught the attention of one of the guards when he staggered and almost fell over hoisting his drill onto his shoulder. But to Nevil’s relief, neither he nor Eli merited a second look as they fell into line and trudged back out into the tunnel together. Eli didn’t speak while they walked, and Nevil stayed close enough to catch him if he stumbled and fell. He didn’t, fortunately, although he was staggering noticeably by the time they made it back to the equipment lockers in the main cavern. </p><p>Nevil picked up his pace to go first so the guards wouldn’t notice Eli moving slowly. After thumbing the panel and dropping his drill in, he slowed again, rolling out his shoulders as he walked; casually taking his time heading towards the lift without <em> looking </em>like he was taking his time. </p><p>Sure enough, Eli managed to catch up fairly quickly, shaking out his hands with a wince. His dust-smeared face was drawn with exhaustion and his palms were red, bloodied and blistered— but even so, he still didn’t look <em> quite </em>as badly off as he had when he’d arrived the night before. </p><p>By the time they’d made their way back to the workers’ area— up the lift with a group of dirty, tired prisoners; past the chute where they thumbed their boots back into storage; and down the tunnel and into the Lounge— Nevil could hear Eli’s stomach growling audibly again. They went straight to supper in the mess hall, during which Nevil slipped Eli some extra water again, to another slightly abashed, grateful ‘thank you’; and then they headed for the showers. </p><p>Despite his obvious pain and fatigue, Eli was almost as shy as he had been the night before, awkwardly facing the corner and wincing as he stripped laboriously out of his gritty jumpsuit. Nevil mostly kept his gaze averted for Eli’s sake, though he took the opportunity to surreptitiously check that Eli wasn’t showing any signs of serious strain or injury as they made their way to the back row of showers again. Aside from slumped shoulders and a slight limp, he seemed to be doing alright, considering. </p><p>Once they were in the water spray, again at opposite ends of the shower bank, Nevil scrubbed himself clean, rubbed the usual tight, low-level soreness from his arms and shoulders— and tried not to listen to Eli hissing sharp breaths in through gritted teeth, or to his soft, half-stifled whimpers of pain as he washed up. </p><p>This time, after showering and using the ‘freshers, they headed to Nevil’s bunk immediately, rather than spending their downtime in the Lounge. Though Nevil didn’t think Eli noticed it, too dazed and half-asleep on his feet, Angel watched them exit the washroom, staring at them across the half-empty common area with an unpleasant, sour expression on his face. </p><p>Letting Eli go ahead into the bunkroom, Nevil paused in the entryway. He managed to catch the eye of one of his own little gang, the men he’d come to trust to a certain extent over the months, and jerked his chin in the direction of Angel— who was still glowering in his direction. Bren glanced over, glanced back, and dipped his head in a shallow nod of acknowledgement. </p><p>A little more relaxed, Nevil finally followed Eli in. The new kid needed the sleep, and it wouldn’t kill Nevil to get a little extra rest in, himself. Bren and the others would keep an eye out, make sure Angel and his thugs didn’t try to slip in and exact retribution on Eli and Nevil while everyone else was still in the mess hall, the showers, or the Lounge. </p><p>Because Nevil had no doubt Angel was going to cause trouble for him, or Eli, or both of them. He just hoped the man would wait a few days, at least. Maybe that way Eli wouldn’t be quite so dead on his feet when it happened. </p><p>…</p><hr/><p>…</p><p>Eli blinked awake with a groan at the sound of the alarm cutting through what had been a deep sleep. The bed was empty beside him, and for a confused, muddled moment he thought it was an evacuation alarm sounding. </p><p>That jerked him awake; and then he took in his surroundings, realized he wasn’t on his parents’ ship, or in his bunk at Myomar Academy, and remembered— </p><p>“Ow,” he croaked, wincing and belatedly snatching his hand back up off Nevil’s mattress where he’d planted it to push himself upright. His palms <em> stung. </em>He’d cleaned out the dust and dirt and grime in the shower last night, at least, but… fucking <em> hell, </em>it still hurt. </p><p>Nevil, who must have gotten up just before Eli woke up, was standing by the bed pulling on his jumpsuit. “Let me see,” he said firmly, tone brooking no argument. </p><p>Eli swung his legs over the edge of the bed with another groan as his muscles protested the motion, vehemently, and obediently held up his sore hands for inspection. He winced in anticipation of pain when Nevil took them in calloused fingers, turning Eli’s palms up to the light for a closer look— but he was gentle, only touching the unbroken areas of skin. </p><p>“They don’t look infected,” Nevil said after a moment, flashing Eli a sympathetic but wry half-smile and releasing his hands. “It’s going to keep hurting for a few more days, though.” </p><p>“Yeah, I know,” Eli grumbled. He pulled his own jumpsuit out from under the pillow and tugged it on, trying to stretch out a little while he did. It wasn’t that he was in <em> terrible </em> shape or anything… but this was very different, much more intensive physical work than anything he’d ever done before. And he hadn’t been training for <em> combat </em>fitness at the Academy, not beyond the basics, anyway. Supply officers didn’t need that. </p><p>Rising to his feet with a quiet sigh, Eli pushed away thoughts of the life he wouldn’t have anymore, followed Nevil out to the washrooms, and then headed to the cafeteria for breakfast. </p><p>Moving and eating helped ease the worst of the aching stiffness from his muscles, at least. A few men Eli recognized from Nevil’s bunkroom came over to join them— or, probably more accurately, to join Nevil— partway through breakfast. They gave Eli curious, but not hostile, looks as they sat down; and to Eli’s relief, they pretty much ignored him after the brief round of one-name-only introductions. He stayed quiet as he ate, listening to the friendly conversation with half an ear, his thoughts mostly turned inward. The idea of another day down in the mines just as brutally hard as yesterday, except when he was already sore to start, stiff and achy, his palms not actively bleeding anymore but definitely still raw… </p><p>Despair rose up in his chest, cold and black and overwhelming. Everything around him receded, all the noise and voices became nothing more than a muted buzz at the edges of his awareness; and Eli found himself wondering bleakly what exactly would happen to him when he just… <em> couldn’t </em>do it. Couldn’t get up. Couldn’t keep going anymore, day after day after day. </p><p>And then he thought about his parents, who were gone for no reason, ripped away without warning or justification; and about Nevil, who had risked helping him, for no reason other than Eli had needed help and Nevil was in a position to give it. In an almost startlingly clear recollection given his state of mind at the time, he thought of the way Nevil had talked that first night about the Empire and how they treated people; the <em> Imps…  </em></p><p>Eli had almost become one of them. Technically, probably, already had. Even if he’d been nothing more than a cadet halfway through training. </p><p>He hadn’t joined up because of any particular burning desire to serve in the Imperial Navy, but… it was a steady job doing something he was <em> good </em> at; a chance to see more of the galaxy than he ever would staying with his family’s company. It was decent pay, a career, and with little to no danger of seeing actual combat in the <em> supply chain. </em></p><p> That was all Eli had wanted, and those same people had turned around and taken <em> everything </em>away from him. His family, his house, his future and his past. His whole life. </p><p>And they’d never even told him <em> why.  </em></p><p>Eli stared down at his flimsy little plastic spoon and his half-empty tray, and his dark despondence slowly morphed instead into a dark, simmering <em>fury. </em></p><p>No. </p><p>The Empire was <em> not </em> going to break him. Whatever it took, he wasn’t going to give up. He would <em> not </em>let them win. </p><p>No matter how much it hurt. </p><p>“Sabaac tonight?”</p><p>Eli looked up, blinking as he remembered the other people around him. Anger was still quietly seething deep in his chest, the low, burning intensity of it taking him slightly by surprise. Nevil looked at him oddly, but the affable smile never left his face as he answered his buddy. Eli’d forgotten the man’s name already, but definitely recognized his deeply-lined face from the bunkroom. </p><p>“Yeah, I’m in,” Nevil said. “’Bout time I thrashed you lot again. Eli? Ever played Sabaac?” </p><p>Eli shook his head, finding his voice. First step— stop cowering every time anyone but Nevil so much as glanced his way. “No. But I always wanted to learn.” </p><p>“Great,” the craggy-faced guy said, clapping Eli on the shoulder as he and the other two rose to their feet. Eli actually managed not to jump. “See you two tonight, then, hey?” </p><p>“You okay?” Nevil said quietly after the three had gone. “You looked a little funny there for a bit.” </p><p>“Yeah,” Eli said softly; then added more firmly, “Yeah, I am.” </p><p>If that wasn’t quite true yet, well… </p><p>It was damn well <em> going </em>to be. </p><p>…</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>(If I'm allowed to have favourites, I really like this chapter 🙈 Also, Rev - you were right about the pacing again)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>…</p><p>Days passed. </p><p>Eli’s hands got worse, the demanding, relentless shifts down in the mines tearing the blisters open anew every cycle, so badly they were still bleeding rather than just raw the next morning. </p><p>He gritted his teeth and kept working through it. On the third day, he had his first shift at the crushers station. The downside was it was his first shift on a different duty station from Nevil— but on the upside, it gave his hands and muscles a change of pace. </p><p>The work was maybe even slightly easier. Hefting chunk after chunk of dense, trinium-embedded rock into the crushers, pulling a huge lever, and then sorting through the rubble to separate the the dark, shiny trinium ingots from the waste rubble certainly wasn’t <em> easy </em>work— but it still wasn’t quite as taxing as wrestling one of those massive drills around. As an added bonus, the crusher lever didn’t vibrate constantly in your hands from metal-impacting-stone, so hard you thought your arms were going to fall off. </p><p>And after about a week, like Nevil had promised— it started getting easier. </p><p>…Slowly. </p><p>Partway through that first week from hell, Eli had been brought up to central after supper for another bio-scan, which Nevil said happened on a semi-regular basis so the Imps could keep an eye on their health. Uncaring and unsympathetic though that eye might be, it was still better than nothing. </p><p>What Eli hadn’t expected was being taken aside after his scan and locked in a small holding cell of some kind, alone. He’d started to panic that he was going to be put in isolation as punishment for something he didn’t know he’d done, or sent away to one of those ‘worse places’ to rot and die— but all they’d done was slap a thin bacta salve on his hands, tell him not to wash them till bedtime to let it soak in, and send him back down to the workers’ area. </p><p>The bacta had done wonders, healing his abused skin almost completely, literally overnight. And his food and water rations had even been increased. </p><p>It was also at the end of that first week that Nevil apparently managed to call in a few favours, or maybe made a deal— he just smiled and told Eli not to worry about it when Eli asked how he’d done it— and gotten a bed freed up in his bunkroom. </p><p>The first night Eli climbed up into his own bunk, the one above the bed he’d been sharing with Nevil, he felt weird and alone and lost all over again. The automated lights went out on schedule, but he just lay there in the dark listening to the sounds of everyone else in the room dropping off to sleep, tossing and turning and completely unable to find rest himself despite his bone-deep exhaustion. </p><p>After what felt like hours of futilely attempting to fall asleep, painfully aware of the aches in his body and the time creeping inexorably towards yet another day of hard work, he climbed out of bed again. Slipping hesitantly into Nevil’s bed, Eli curled up to the warmth of Nevil’s back with his own folded jumpsuit for a pillow and was asleep within minutes. </p><p>The next morning, he blinked blearily awake to the strident blaring of the wake-up alarm just before it shut off, and to an already-empty room— save for Nevil. Nevil was already dressed, half-zipped jumpsuit hanging from his hips as usual, and he was leaning against the bunk and eyeing Eli with an amused, crooked smile. </p><p>“Morning, sleeping beauty.” </p><p>“I- I’m sorry,” Eli stammered, a furious blush rising in his cheeks as he sat up clutching his jumpsuit. He’d drooled all over it in the night. “I just… I couldn’t sleep up there,” he said, wincing at how ridiculous it sounded. It had made more sense last night. “I won’t do it again,” he started to add, but Nevil waved him off. </p><p>“Seriously, Eli, it’s fine. I don’t mind at all,” Nevil said seriously, but still with that genuine smile. “I was just surprised to find you there, is all.” </p><p>His tension easing, Eli smiled back, hesitantly at first; then deeper as his muscles… remembered how to do it. He suddenly realized the last time he’d smiled had been at home, on his birthday, and the thought sent a strange bittersweet pang of… something through his chest. </p><p>Eli ducked his head, focusing intently on tugging his jumpsuit up to try and ignore the confused tangle of emotions that were suddenly lodged in his throat. It must have shown on his face anyway though, because Nevil’s hand squeezed his shoulder, the touch gentle yet firm, and somehow reassuring. </p><p>“Thank you,” Eli whispered, his voice hoarse. Nevil gave his shoulder another squeeze in silent answer. Without really thinking about it, Eli reached up to grip Nevil’s hand in his for a moment, blinking away the sting in his eyes and taking a deep, calming breath. </p><p>It sort of worked. </p><p>“Come on,” Nevil said, patting Eli’s shoulder when Eli let his hand go again, “we better hurry or all the good slop’ll be gone.” </p><p>Eli huffed a ghost of a laugh at that, and Nevil winked at him and led the way to the cafeteria. </p><p>…</p><hr/><p>…</p><p>Eli made it through that day too, and the next, and the next after that. One day after another, until they gradually started to blur together, his body adapting to the work; his mind, slightly unsettlingly, adapting to his new life. </p><p>Mostly, anyway. </p><p>Despite having his own bunk, Eli still shared Nevil’s almost every night anyway, partly for the whole ‘appearances’ thing, but largely just for the comfort of it. Just so he wouldn’t feel so horribly <em> alone.  </em></p><p>Nevil never seemed to mind it— not even when the homesickness hit. Those nights, Nevil just held Eli close while the anger and despair overtook him, the pain and loss welling up inside him until he felt like he would choke from it all. </p><p>The nightmares about his parents, about the morning he’d been taken by the stormtroopers, were the worst. They didn’t haunt him every night, and they were slowly getting less frequent— but when they did hit, Eli inevitably woke up thrashing and sweaty, sobbing and confused and terrified all over again. </p><p>Nevil held him through those, too, quieting him with soothing, wordless noises until Eli calmed and eventually drifted off to sleep again, shaky and exhausted. He never asked what Eli’s nightmares were about, and Eli wasn’t quite ready to talk about any of it yet… But he felt safe with Nevil, and hadn’t been even the slightest bit nervous around him since those first couple days. They were together constantly; though gradually a little less so as Eli became a part of the little group that Nevil clearly trusted more than the other inmates. They all shared Eli and Nevil’s dorm, and they all— at least as far as Eli could tell— believed he and Nevil really were… what they pretended to be. </p><p>Angel still made Eli nervous, though. He clearly hadn’t forgotten that first day when Eli had arrived, and Eli often caught the man just… <em> watching </em>him. It made his skin crawl. </p><p>Nevil had obviously noticed it too, warning Eli to be careful— not a warning he needed— and never leaving him completely alone. Ever. If Nevil wasn’t nearby, Eli was with the group or in plain view of the guards on-shift down below— and he was never gone for long, either. Eli hoped he would never have to find out what would happen if he did wind up alone around Angel and <em> his </em>friends. He knew by now that Nevil had, without a doubt, not only stuck his neck out for Eli’s sake on that very first day, but was continuing to risk a run-in with Angel every day because of it. </p><p>And through it all, Nevil had kept his word and not once even so much as hinted he wanted anything at all from Eli in return for his friendship and protection.  </p><p>There were, of course, the slightly awkward morning boners to deal with on both sides, especially crammed into a single-person bunk together almost every night. In the early days, Eli was so constantly exhausted that he’d always woken up after Nevil anyway, but the first time he <em> had </em>woken up first to the feeling of something hot and hard and entirely unmistakable pressed against his ass from behind, he’d nearly jumped out of his skin with instant, undirected fear before he’d even fully woken up. Nevil had been sound asleep though, and hadn’t noticed anything amiss when he woke up in turn— though Eli had carefully shimmied away to put a bit of space between them first. </p><p>But as time went on and nothing happened, Eli relaxed and stopped worrying about anyone’s morning erection, or about stripping in front of Nevil or even showering side by side when the showers happened to be a little busier than he preferred. </p><p>Days turned into weeks, and as those weeks passed in turn, Eli fell into the daily routine and the new ‘normal’ of his life so quickly it was almost scary when he stopped to think about it. Get up, get dressed, have breakfast paste. Traipse down to the mines, get your duty assignment and equipment, and get to work. Break for lunch; then back to work. Then trudge back up to the workers’ area, have supper paste, hang out in the Lounge, shower and go to sleep. And as he settled in; as his hands healed and his body got used to the physical labour and the heat in the mine, it got easier and easier to look forward to being ‘off-duty’ the same way he had back at the Academy, rather than just dreading each new day down in the mines. </p><p>In some ways, it was a good thing. He wasn’t constantly afraid and upset. He enjoyed the small things, like the welcome heat of a shower at the end of every hard day, spending the ‘evenings’ in the Lounge with Nevil, Bren, Dy and the others. Occasionally they watched a vid on the big cracked viewscreen; more often, they played rounds of Dejarik or Sabaac. Eli had never been great at the strategy-based Dejarik, but apparently he had a talent for Sabaac. Nevil had been impressed by how quickly he’d picked it up, and Eli, for his part, had been slightly bemused to find the game really wasn’t as hard as people said it was. There was a lot of luck, sure; but otherwise, it was all just keeping track of the math when you got right down to it. </p><p>But getting used to that routine made it too easy to forget that not so very long ago, Eli had <em> more </em> than that. A life, a family, friends and the beginnings of a career. He’d had a <em> future, </em>with goals and plans and the freedom to go places he wanted to go, to see things he wanted to see and do things he wanted to do. But down there, the days blurred; the cycles stretching out ahead of him, forever, unchanging, with nothing to look forward to except more and more of the same. It made it hard to really keep track of time, and Eli woke up one morning and realized with a deep, uneasy sort of queasy horror— </p><p>He didn’t know how long he’d been there. </p><p>He lay there in the dark, turning it over in his mind until the lights came on, the alarm sounded, and the everyday noises of his bunkmates getting up and ready for the day filled the silence. It wasn’t even that he thought it had been a particularly <em> long </em> time or anything, he had just… always kept track of time, no matter where he was. It wasn’t something he really <em> consciously </em>tried to do, but he’d always known what day it was, whether at home on Lysatra, on a cargo ship, or at the Academy on Myomar. </p><p>But down here, there was no sense of <em> external </em>time passing; no timekeeping devices of any kind, the routine, repetitive days all blending together in a vague sense of muddy, hopeless eternity. </p><p>Nevil rolled out of bed, and Eli sat up, perched on the edge of the mattress with a small frown. “Nev?” </p><p>“Yeah?” Nevil answered, yawning widely as he dragged his jumpsuit on. </p><p>“How long has it been since I got here?” </p><p>Nevil paused with one arm halfway into his sleeve and cocked his head, looking down at Eli. “Probably a few standard months, I’d guess, give or take. Why?” </p><p>Eli shrugged where he was still sitting on the edge of the mattress; then looked down at the floor while he pulled his own suit on for the day. He wasn’t entirely sure how to put it into words. “I don’t know, I just… I know it’s kinda silly, but I usually keep track of that kind of thing. I just realized I haven’t been, and it… it bothers me. Not knowing.” </p><p>“Huh. Well—” Nevil finished pulling his second sleeve on, twisting as he did to avoid hitting Dy in the face as the man passed by— “if it’s that important, we can probably figure it out. More or less, anyway,” he said with a lopsided grin. </p><p>Eli sent Nevil a grateful smile as he stood up too, feeling an odd sense of relief at the idea. “Thanks.” </p><p>True to his word, Nevil took the time that evening to help Eli think back and laboriously work out how many cycles had passed since his arrival. Though there was a little wiggle room of a few days to each side, Eli settled on an accurate enough count to soothe his anxiety. And with nothing to mark the cycles with, or on, for that matter, he began mentally keeping track of them from that point onwards. The first thing he did when he woke up and the last thing he did before falling asleep was remind himself <em> exactly </em>how many days he had been there. </p><p>How many days it had been since the Empire had murdered his parents and thrown him in a hole in the ground to rot. </p><p>…</p><hr/><p>…</p><p>Nevil blinked awake in the darkness. He was confused, briefly, about what had woken him up; and then Eli cried out beside him again, thrashing under the already rumpled, twisted covers. </p><p>“Eli… Eli, shh,” Nevil whispered. Pulling Eli tight to his chest, he cradled Eli’s head into his shoulder, gently stroking his sweaty, bed-rumpled hair with a quiet sigh. It had been awhile since Eli’d had one of his nightmares, and Nevil had just been starting to think they might finally have stopped for good. </p><p>Apparently not. </p><p>Eli sobbed something, the word tear-slurred and all but unintelligible… but it might have been ‘mom’. </p><p>“Shh, it’s okay. It’s only a bad dream. You’re okay, I’ve got you.” Nevil kept up the soothing litany, only half aware of what he was saying and just keeping the words coming, low and soft. He felt it as Eli quieted slowly, clinging to him tightly while the shakes calmed, face wet with tears against Nevil’s skin. He wasn’t actually sure if Eli had even woken up or not— he didn’t always— until Eli whispered brokenly into his chest. </p><p>“It was awful, Nev, it was…” Eli’s breath hitched in another shuddering little bitten-off sob. “They never even said <em> why.</em>” </p><p>“Why what?” Nevil asked quietly, keeping his voice down so they didn’t wake anyone else up. He had a feeling it wasn’t too far off from wake-up call anyway, but still. </p><p>Eli was silent long enough that Nevil thought he might have gone back to sleep. He kept stroking Eli’s back gently anyway, too awake to slip off himself just yet. </p><p>“My parents,” Eli finally said, his voice hardly even a whisper. Nevil had to strain to hear him. “That’s… that’s why I’m in here. I was visiting home from— from Myomar. The- Academy.” </p><p>Eli started to continue but then paused again, hesitating, and tensed in Nevil’s arms. Nevil realized why when the name clicked into place a moment later. Eli meant the <em> Naval </em> Academy on Myomar. He had been a cadet, training to join the Empire. </p><p>Nevil just nodded, squeezing Eli briefly tighter with an encouraging sort of noise as it dawned on him that Eli must be afraid Nevil would think differently of him, now that he knew. </p><p>“We happened to have term break over my birthday,” Eli continued, his voice trembling. “I went home for it, and they just… I had just woken up when stormtroopers blew open the door. I heard blaster fire and shouting and I ran downstairs, and my parents… they were standing there in the living room with their hands behind their heads, and my dad told me not to come in, and… And then they just— they just <em> shot </em> them and they were gone. Just like that. They never even had a chance to explain anything, or… And I never— I never got to say <em> goodbye.</em>” </p><p>Eli’s voice caught in another pained sob and he fell silent, his whole body shaking again. It was enough to set tears pricking at Nevil’s eyes, helpless to do anything but hold Eli while he cried. </p><p>“I’m so sorry, Eli,” Nevil finally said once Eli’s heartrending sobs had quieted again, hearing the helpless sorrow in his own voice. </p><p>“I don’t even know why they let me live, honestly,” Eli said, sniffling. His voice was thick, broken and raw; but steadier. “Or what they thought my mom and dad <em> did. </em>They said something about my parents being rebels and traitors to the Empire, and that I was lucky only to be going to prison, and I don’t… really remember anything else, it’s just… It’s all foggy. And then I was here.” </p><p>Nevil didn’t have a good answer for him. “I don’t know why, either,” he murmured, stroking a hand through Eli’s hair. “But I’m glad they spared you, at least. It could be because of your status as a Navy Cadet, or else they didn’t think you were involved in whatever it was—” </p><p>“My parents didn’t do <em> anything </em> wrong,” Eli interrupted. Under the congestion from crying, there was a low, hot certainty in his voice. “They were never… traitors or insurgents or <em> any </em> of that. They just ran a <em> shipping </em>company.” </p><p>“I know,” Nevil said softly, and left it at that. This was… really not the time to mention that out-of-the way, small and privately owned shipping companies <em> were </em>prime candidates for smuggling operations; and of those, rebels or sympathizers as often as pirates. </p><p>Besides, it was entirely possible Eli’s parents really <em> hadn’t </em> done anything wrong or even remotely illegal. All it would take is for them to have turned down a shady or risky contract for the wrong Imperial, or the wrong person with the right connections <em> in </em> the Empire, and they could easily find themselves at the wrong end of the proverbial blaster. Even unknowingly taking a seemingly legitimate contract with the wrong person could have done it, for that matter. There were many people in the galaxy who thought nothing of tying up a few loose ends in order to protect their own dealings from scrutiny. </p><p>“The Empire bought out the mine I was working at before being sent here,” Nevil said quietly into the silence, still absentmindedly stroking his fingers through Eli’s hair. Eli stilled aside from the occasional watery sniffle, clearly listening intently. Nevil had always deflected questions about his own past, and Eli had tactfully stopped enquiring. “But I was from the Core worlds originally.” </p><p>Eli huffed a surprised, questioning noise and Nevil snorted softly, shaking his head. </p><p>“Yeah. Not something I really like to advertise out here, y’know? But I couldn’t stand the politics, the scheming and backstabbing and infighting for Coruscanti favour and standing, when I was growing up. Couldn’t stand my own boot-licking <em> family, </em> with their superiority complex and attitudes towards nonhumans, or anyone <em> not </em>from the Core systems, for that matter.” Nevil laughed wryly at himself, remembering just how naive he’d really been back then. “So, I left home the moment I was legally old enough that they couldn’t just put out an alert and have me hauled right back again. Changed my name, headed rimward full of ideals and moral principles, and thought I was better than every single person I’d left behind.” </p><p>“What happened?” </p><p>Nevil shrugged. “Exactly what you’d expect, I suppose. I found out what real life is like, when you don’t have privilege and credits as a shield anymore. Whether you wanted that shield or not. Ended up in mining because it’s hard, dirty, often dangerous work. They <em> always </em>need more people and they don’t ask questions. Hopped from gig to gig for years until I wound up on a lithium-rich, backwater nowhere out on the edge of the Outer Rim. But I also… I don’t know. I guess I thought I could make some kind of a difference there. Even a small one,” he admitted, feeling decidedly awkward and self-conscious, revealing so much of himself. </p><p>But Eli just nodded with a thoughtful hum, his hair tickling Nevil’s neck. “And that’s the one the Empire took over?” </p><p>“Yup. It wasn’t any different at first, but… then they started cutting costs and cutting corners, more and more. People were getting injured, sick, even dying in completely avoidable accidents. And I tried to stand against them. I led the organization of a strike. We protested and demanded all the safety measures they’d taken away be reinstated, that they reduce working hours back down to something reasonable and start paying out hazard bonuses for the deep-mining shifts again. Instead, they sent in stormtroopers armed with shock grenades and stun rifles, and arrested every single worker who’d joined the walk-out. <em> After </em>executing a handful at random to set an example. </p><p>“I stood there and watched my friends and colleagues, good, hardworking, <em> honest </em> people, beaten and murdered in front of me. Just for demanding a return to half-decent working conditions,” Nevil whispered, his jaw twitching and his stomach clenching at the memory. “Because <em> I convinced them </em>to demand it.” </p><p>“I’m sorry,” Eli said softly into the long silence, and Nevil felt Eli’s grip tighten in the front of his undershirt. </p><p>“So am I,” Nevil answered. “I learned a lot of hard lessons that day, and in the days that followed. I already knew I didn’t like the direction the Empire’s policies had begun to take, the slide of the senate’s power… I didn’t quite realize until then just <em> how bad </em>things had already gotten, further out from the Inner Planets. They split us up after arresting the lot of us, shipped us off to facilities like this one. And now I’m stuck in here while it all keeps getting worse out there,” he said bitterly. </p><p>“Do you think they’ll ever let us out?” Eli asked after a moment, his tone somber and serious. </p><p>Nevil sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I honestly don’t know. This type of prison isn’t <em> supposed </em>to be a life sentence, but… People are supposed to get some sort of trial before getting chucked down here, too, and that’s clearly not been happening. And the worker population has been growing since I got here, slowly but surely. Prisoners are still coming in, but no one’s leaving. I can’t imagine the same isn’t happening all over the galaxy.” </p><p>There was another long silence, until Eli spoke in a subdued voice, barely even a whisper in the darkness. Nevil could barely hear him. “I was going to <em> be </em>one of them.” </p><p>“I don’t blame you for not knowing—” Nevil started, but Eli shook his head and talked over him. </p><p>“I <em> hate </em> them,” Eli said with a quietly fierce certainty. “The Empire. Everything they’ve done to people like you and me and the others. To my parents. The miners you were with. If I ever get out of here, I… I’ll fight them. I don’t know how, yet, but I <em> will.</em>” </p><p>“You have to be careful talking like that, Eli,” Nevil warned quietly. “You can’t let anyone hear it.”</p><p>“I know.” </p><p>Nevil turned onto his back and stared up at the underside of Eli’s bunk, though he couldn’t see it in the dark. </p><p>“Well,” he finally said, feeling a mirthless smile touch his lips, “we better make sure we do get out of here one day, then, eh?” </p><p>…</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>happy Sunday, have some pain &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ahem. Mind those new tags today ;)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>…</p><p>Tossing his cards down with a wry, self-deprecating smile, Nevil heaved an exaggerated sigh and pushed to his feet. “That’s me out, lads.” </p><p>Eli grinned triumphantly, a mischievous sparkle in his brown eyes that was gone so quickly Nevil could almost have thought he’d imagined it. Grinning back, he slipped over to stand with Dy in the small group of onlookers and settled in to watch Eli make scrap metal of his remaining opponents. The kid was on a roll again tonight, soundly kicking everyone’s ass as he so often did. But somehow he managed to do it in such a <em> likable </em>way that nobody ever left the table genuinely upset. </p><p>In fact, after those first few rough days, Eli had settled in a hell of a lot faster than Nevil had entirely expected. He did still have those nightmares about his parents, though even they had gotten extremely rare as the months slipped by. Angel was, unfortunately, still a continual worry; although he hadn’t done anything overtly aggressive so far. But Nevil was far from convinced the man had given up on exacting retribution yet. At the very least, he was the type to nurse a grudge— and, also unfortunately, he wasn’t <em> quite </em>stupid enough to risk getting himself in serious trouble just for the sake of a little petty vengeance. He was already on the guards’ watch list; any big strike would likely be enough to see him dealt with in an ‘unfortunate’ mining accident, or shipped out to one of the true death pits the Empire didn’t like people knowing about. </p><p>That didn’t mean Angel wouldn’t take a good opportunity for revenge if he <em> got </em>one, though. </p><p>So, Nevil made sure not to give it to him. Eli, too, had caught on very quickly, and they just stayed together more or less constantly. As far as Nevil could tell, people believed he and Eli were paired up. And, really, they were. They just weren’t… <em> involved </em>to the degree people thought. Nevil had never laid claim to anyone the way he had with Eli. He had in fact been worried would cause more problems than it did, in the end— mainly from people who might think he was taking advantage of Eli, and wasn’t the man he’d led them to believe he was. </p><p>But that small handful of more trustworthy men— the few he viewed, more or less, as friends, all of whom seemed to be largely decent sorts suffering under the Imperial boot— they were apparently content with the fact that Eli didn’t seem at all unhappy with the arrangement. And, truth be told, Nevil suspected one or two of their bunkmates had a pretty good idea the two of them weren’t <em> quite </em>as close as they led everyone to believe. </p><p>Fortunately, even if they did know, they said nothing and went along with it. And on their part, Eli and Nevil kept up the ‘public’ appearance easily enough. They showered together, often in the earlier part of the evening after shift— which was widely accepted as a good time for a little privacy, if you weren’t the sort to enjoy an audience. It was still mainly because Eli didn’t love being there during the more crowded shower times— though he’d certainly gotten much more relaxed around that— but it had the extra benefit of adding to the ruse. They slept together as well, almost every night; or at least went to bed together. As Eli’s nightmares got less frequent, Nevil occasionally woke up alone in his bunk, Eli having climbed up to his own in the night. </p><p>They also, by unspoken agreement, had slipped into playing up the front more and more out in the shared areas as well. They sat closer than necessary at mealtimes and in the Lounge, Nevil frequently putting a casually possessive arm around Eli’s waist or shoulders or absentmindedly running a hand over his shoulder or back. And when someone made a ribald comment or thinly-veiled suggestion, Nevil chuckled and winked and played along while Eli ducked his head with a guileless smile, blushing and leaning in closer under Nevil’s arm. Whether he did it as part of the show, or if he just couldn’t help the reaction, Nevil didn’t know… but it certainly played the part well. </p><p>In fact, Nevil had gotten so used to it all that he occasionally found himself forgetting it was only a pretense. </p><p>Sometimes, he really wished it wasn’t. </p><p>He inevitably felt guilty for thinking it, but he couldn’t really help it, more and more so as time passed. Though he had started this all as a way to protect someone who needed help, the truth was that the more he got to know Eli, the more he <em> liked </em> the young man. Eli was… <em> genuine; </em>not to mention smarter than he tended to let on, and gained more and more of that quiet, steely confidence under his misleadingly innocent appearance with every passing day. </p><p>And, well. It certainly didn’t hurt that he was <em> very </em>attractive. </p><p>He still had that same pretty face he’d walked in with, of course— but all the hard work in the mines had shifted him from slim and almost delicate-looking to downright <em> athletic, </em> all lean, wiry muscles that held far more strength than his size suggested. Nevil had been finding it increasingly difficult <em> not </em>to respond without thinking when he woke up entwined closely with Eli, half naked and morning-hard; Eli in the same state and pressed up sleepily against him. </p><p>And of course they showered together, too. It was easier for Nevil to ignore his own undeniable interest in the evenings, at least, tired as he always was from another day in the mines… but it still wasn’t <em> easy.  </em></p><p>At the Sabacc table, Simin finally went out to end the final hand. As the group started up a new round, Nevil sighed inwardly, retaking his seat and forcing his mind back to the game. </p><p>He still wasn’t going to do a thing to make Eli think he’d gone back on his word… but <em> fuck, </em>was he ever getting tired of needing a quick, silent wank in a toilet cubicle almost every goddamn morning. </p><p>…</p><hr/><p>…</p><p>The running tally of cycles in Eli’s head crept inexorably higher, day by day… but he was no longer afraid of losing himself in here. </p><p>Not when he remembered what Nevil had said; not when he silently told himself every single day that they <em> were </em>going to get out, one way or another. </p><p>Not when he had a <em> goal </em>again, nebulous though it might be. </p><p>In the meantime, he woke up and ate and toiled down in the mines every day without complaint, having long since gotten used to the physical work. It no longer seemed anywhere near as impossible as it had at the beginning; and in fact, he hardly recognized his own body half the time now. His hands were calloused and rough from the machines and rock and the heat of freshly-smelted trinium. He had dust and grit from the mine seemingly ground permanently in the lines of his fingers, no matter how thoroughly he washed. Even his jumpsuits fit noticeably tighter across his chest and shoulders now, too. He was pretty sure he’d actually gone up a size during the first couple months, and had to cinch them tighter around his hips to make up for it. </p><p>He still liked to avoid the shower rush when he could— mainly to avoid the looks from other people and to lessen the chances of always-creepy run ins with Angel or his thugs— but they didn’t always manage it. And given the choice, Eli <em> vastly </em> preferred sticking close to Nevil than whatever random guy wound up showering beside them. He had at least gotten a lot less flustered by the things <em> other </em> people did in the showers and the bunkrooms— and very occasionally even got started on in the Lounge to some extent— though he was still always careful not to… <em> look.  </em></p><p>Not too overtly, anyway. </p><p>He couldn’t help watching surreptitiously, sometimes. It had been a while now since he’d been with anyone. Not since the occasional night out while at the Academy, and… well… </p><p>Sharing a bed with, and being around, someone else <em> all </em> the time; it left <em> very </em> few opportunities for a little intimate privacy when you weren’t <em> actually sleeping with </em>that person. </p><p>It wasn’t as though Nevil was unattractive, either; far from it. Which really didn’t help matters. If Eli hadn’t already felt an undeniable… connection developing with the man, Nevil was also extremely, almost frustratingly, <em> hot </em> in a ruggedly handsome way. In addition to the broad shoulders and powerful arms that would draw <em> anyone’s </em>gaze, he had those thoughtful, intelligent dark eyes, combined with a disarmingly warm smile that had a very definite tendency to make Eli go a little bit weak in the knees. </p><p>And Nevil took care of himself, too, despite circumstances: cleaning his teeth every morning, shaving both his face and head once or twice a week, cutting his nails before they could get too long or ragged. Obviously, as prisoners, all they had access to were the typical safety trimmers that didn’t work on anything <em> but </em>hair and nails. But, quite aside from the fact that the beds weren’t exactly roomy even for one person alone and being in such close quarters would have been decidedly unpleasant otherwise, Eli was grateful for Nevil’s routines for an entirely separate reason as well. </p><p>He had, unsurprisingly, picked up most of his current habits from Nevil— including those. And while he hadn’t thought about it much initially, doing everything numbly and purely by rote for the first few weeks in particular… Eli found he counted on those routines, now. They gave him some small sense of being in control of his life, mundane though it was. </p><p>He couldn’t help watching Nevil surreptitiously sometimes too, though he tried not to <em> look </em>too much. After all, Nevil had been kind enough to make him feel as comfortable as possible since the very beginning, and Eli wasn’t about to turn around and do the very opposite.</p><p>And he certainly hadn’t <em> meant </em>to see anything, the first time he did. </p><p>After evening meal, he and Nevil were playing another friendly Sabaac tournament with the usual crowd. Eli was doing well, as usual; but got burned holding onto a big hand just a little too long, and went out to a chorus of hoots and good-natured jeers. Which was fair enough; it wasn’t often he went down so early. </p><p>Nevil, who wasn’t particularly bad at the game, had nevertheless gone out on the very first hand. And oddly enough, he was already gone from the small cluster of onlookers when Eli got up to cede his place at the table. </p><p>Frowning slightly, Eli glanced around. He couldn’t see Nevil anywhere in the Lounge at all, for that matter. But it wasn’t quite like him to just… disappear without letting Eli know. </p><p>“Your Cygni, he went to the ‘fresher,” Bren said, obviously noticing Eli looking around. The wiry older man’s deeply-lined face split into a broad grin and he gave Eli a nudge and a wink. “Maybe waitin’ for you in the shower, hey?” </p><p>Eli blushed— he never had gotten the hang of covering those when people alluded, even in a friendly way, to his and Nevil’s supposed ‘relationship’. Which, in all honesty, probably helped sell it anyway. </p><p>“Thanks,” he said with a little self-conscious smile back. “I’ll see you later.” </p><p>Bren nodded, attention already turning back to the Sabaac hand that was now in full swing, and Eli headed to the washroom to go find Nevil. </p><p>After taking the opportunity to pay his own visit to the bank of toilet stalls— Nevil wasn’t there either— Eli went and stripped off at the recycler, wondering why Nevil hadn’t waited for him and trying not to let his nerves show. He’d never gone back there without Nevil before… but nobody was really paying him any attention, at least. It was still fairly quiet, too. Most of the other workers tended to prefer showering right before bed instead. </p><p>Eli wound his way through the ranks of open showers, passing a few people already there for their evening fuck, but there was no sign of Nevil. He was just starting to get a little worried when he rounded the last row, found Nevil— </p><p>And froze on the spot. </p><p>Nevil clearly hadn’t heard him coming. He was facing the side wall, his head down and feet wide, one hand braced on the steamy tiles and the other… Eli’s breath stuttered in his chest. </p><p>He couldn’t see <em> everything </em>at that angle, but he could sure as hell see enough. </p><p>He knew he should turn and go, leave Nevil the privacy he’d clearly slipped away to get… but Eli couldn’t quite manage to tear his eyes away from the water streaming down Nevil’s bare skin, trailing through the dark, tightly curled hair dusting his chest and stomach. Or from Nevil’s arm, those powerful muscles tight as his fist pumped back and forth, his hips twitching in uneven, shallow thrusts while he jerked himself off hard and fast. Even with the loud drumming of the shower spray against the hard floor, Eli almost thought he could <em> hear </em>it: Nevil panting, the slick sounds of his hand sliding over his cock— </p><p>And then Nevil <em> did </em> bite out a quiet grunt, his hips jerking forward harder, and Eli spun and fled back around the corner like he’d been stung. He ducked into an empty shower bank— one that wouldn’t be on Nevil’s way out— and slapped the water on, his cheeks burning fiercely at the abrupt realization that he was fully, <em> achingly </em>hard from watching his friend getting off. </p><p>Not that he’d never… <em> thought </em>about Nevil like that before, sort of, he just… </p><p>He didn’t quite know what to do about the fact that the sight— and the <em> sound— </em> of Nevil coming into his own hand was now apparently burned <em> very </em>thoroughly into his mind. </p><p>Resting his head against the smooth shower wall, Eli groaned. He’d already been feeling more and more pent up lately as it was. That little show, accidental though it may have been, <em> really </em>hadn’t helped matters. He couldn’t relax; his pulse thrumming demandingly through his cock, his cheeks burning with heat. And not from the water temperature, either. </p><p>Feeling slightly guilty about it, but knowing there was no way in hell he’d be able to sleep tonight if he didn’t, Eli got a handful of body wash, faced the corner, and curled his fingers tight around his straining erection with another quiet groan in the back of his throat. He couldn’t banish the images from his mind as he brought himself off— and when he came all over the wall of the shower just a few minutes later, it was to the vivid memory of broad shoulders, dark wet skin, and Nevil’s low, wordless grunt. </p><p>Neither of them said anything about it when they went to bed, despite the fact that it had been the first night since Eli’s arrival that they <em> hadn’t </em> showered together. Eli had some trouble falling asleep that night for the first time in weeks, wondering what <em> Nevil </em>had been thinking about at the time… Wondering if he had any idea Eli had seen him masturbating, or whether he suspected that Eli had taken the opportunity to do the same. </p><p>He was almost painfully conscious of Nevil’s warm body against his back, too; of Nevil’s chest moving gently against him with the steady rhythm of the man’s breathing. It wasn’t… <em> exactly </em> the first time he had gotten off thinking about Nevil— but it was the first time he’d really acknowledged in his own mind that, yes, that’s <em> exactly </em>what he had been doing. </p><p>And it wasn’t the last time he did, either. Though he was very careful not to accidentally intrude again when they occasionally took separate showers after that— even if some part of him really, <em> really </em>wanted to walk in on Nevil again. </p><p>Wanted to know what Nevil would do if Eli… joined him, instead of running away. </p><p>Once the idea had settled into his mind, Eli found it got harder and harder to ignore, wondering privately what it would be like— those mornings when he woke up with hard heat nestled snugly against his ass, if Nevil <em> didn’t </em>roll away and get out of bed… Imagining how it would feel to have Nevil’s mouth on his at night, warm and soft above the rough scrape of stubble on his chin. </p><p>Tentatively, nervously, not wanting to overstep or make Nevil uncomfortable in case the interest wasn’t mutual, Eli started cuddling even closer when Nevil put an arm around him in the Lounge or the mess hall; stopped rolling away at night or in the mornings if one of them was nestled in tight to the other in certain… areas in particular. </p><p>And Nevil didn’t ever pull away, stop him, or seem to mind at all. Once or twice in the mornings, Eli was even certain he felt Nevil hesitate; heard him swallow hard before shifting away… with what might possibly have been a faint sigh of regret. </p><p>…</p><hr/><p>…</p><p>“Nev?” </p><p>“Hmm?” Nevil shifted sleepily, nuzzling absentmindedly into the back of Eli’s neck. He’d been almost asleep, only distantly aware of Eli shuffling and fidgeting quietly beside him. “What’s wrong?” </p><p>“Nothing’s wrong, I was just… I was wondering, well…” Eli trailed off, fidgeting again, and cleared his throat. “Remember when I first got here, and you said… you said you’d never expect me to, um, you know… <em> do </em>anything?” </p><p>Silence fell and Nevil was abruptly fully awake, his breath catching in his chest and his eyes opening to the darkness. Maybe he really hadn’t been imagining Eli’s recent interest. </p><p>“I remember, yes. And I meant it,” Nevil answered carefully, keeping the same low, quiet tone as Eli despite the way his heartbeat had suddenly begun thudding in his ears. “I still don’t expect… favours from you, Eli. I won’t, ever.” </p><p>Eli fidgeted some more and then turned over, squirming around to face Nevil instead of the wall. Nevil couldn’t see his expression in the dark, but he could feel the warmth of Eli’s breath against his chest; could feel Eli’s body shifting against him, in the circle of his arm. </p><p>“What about if I <em> want </em> to?” Eli said quietly, finally stilling and hardly even seeming to breathe. </p><p>Nevil swallowed hard, trying to keep his voice steady despite the half-nervous, half-thrilled swoop in his stomach. “Well… if you wanted to… I’d like that, too. Very much.” </p><p>He heard a soft, sharp intake of breath in front of him; and then soft lips were clumsily finding his in the dark. Nevil reacted instinctively as Eli’s mouth pressed against his, sliding his hand up Eli’s back, pulling him gently closer and sucking Eli’s bottom lip lightly between his. With a quiet, huffed little moan that went straight to Nevil’s groin, Eli’s lips parted immediately in response, his tongue tentatively darting into Nevil’s mouth, hot and slick and teasing. </p><p>Nevil had to exert an immense effort of will in forcing himself to pull back before he could get too carried away; too caught up in the sweet, wet, perfect heat of Eli’s mouth. </p><p>“Are you sure, Eli?” he murmured, his voice already hoarse and unsteady. “I only want this if you do, not if you’re doing it out of… some sense of <em> obligation, </em>or—” </p><p>Eli cut him off, surging up against him in another kiss; this one brief but fierce, his hand slipping onto Nevil’s hip under the covers and his knee sliding over the outside of Nevil’s leg. Nevil barely stifled an almost pained groan as the heat of Eli’s crotch pressed up against the front of his bare thigh. Eli was at least halfway to hard already, and rapidly stiffening up further under his shorts. </p><p>“I’m sure,” Eli murmured fervently with a little roll of his hips, his voice low and heated. “<em>More </em>than sure.” </p><p>He nipped at Nevil’s bottom lip, and Nevil kissed him back again, and then everything dissolved into a soft, quiet blur of lips and tongues and warm, roving hands, rocking hips and barely-stifled moans. </p><p>Despite the dizzying flushes of desire surging through him in waves of heat, Nevil managed to keep his wits about him enough to slide Eli’s shirt and his own up and out of the way, to avoid getting them too… sticky, in the very near future. Eli went one step further, pushing both their underwear down so they were grinding together skin-on-skin, and letting out a shaky, almost shocked little whimper that nearly set Nevil off right there. </p><p>“Eli…” Nevil managed to breathe, his eyes fluttering shut and a tremor running through him when Eli’s hand closed around his straining cock with an almost experimental squeeze. “You’re gonna… Fuck, I don’t want it to be over yet,” he whispered with a breathless laugh. </p><p>He felt more than heard Eli’s giggle, a hot puff of air against his kiss-swollen lips, and the hand on his cock squeezed again, tighter, stroking him slowly right down to the base and back up again. “Oops.” </p><p>Nevil grinned and pressed another kiss to Eli’s lips, licking into his mouth and lightly scraping his teeth over Eli’s bottom lip in a faint suggestion of a bite— then rolled them over so Eli was on his back with Nevil’s leg still between his thighs. </p><p>With a low hum that was nearly a quiet growl, Nevil started shifting down the bed, licking and sucking a trail of open-mouthed kisses down Eli’s jaw to his neck, over the lines of his collarbone, and down the already-heaving planes of his chest and stomach. He could feel Eli’s cock twitching against him, brushing along his front and leaving behind little sticky-wet smears of precome. </p><p>Eli was already breathing hard, his softly panted whimpers barely audible; his hips writhing slowly as Nevil drew closer to his goal. He slid down under the blankets, pushing Eli’s underwear down and off one leg while he went, too eager to bother teasing any more than that with the warm, clean, musky scent of Eli’s arousal filling his airways. Despite knowing they weren’t alone in the room, Nevil still felt an odd sense of privacy as he settled in between Eli’s open legs, surrounded by the warm, close little tent of bedsheets and Eli’s heated skin. </p><p>Ghosting his lips lightly over the head of Eli’s straining cock, he grinned to himself at the faint sound of Eli’s breath hitching in response, ducked down to drag the point of his tongue over Eli’s balls, and then licked a broad stripe up the underside of his shaft from base to tip. Eli’s cock jumped under Nevil’s mouth in response, his hips jerking and his legs falling open wider, his breathy moan muffled through the blankets; and Nevil stopped wasting time. </p><p>Raising Eli’s cock up off his belly with one hand, Nevil finally took Eli fully into his mouth with a low groan of pleasure. He felt Eli’s legs tremble, hips bucking again, that hard heat riding in along his tongue as deep as he could take it and the bright, sticky, sharply sweet taste of precome filling his mouth and throat. </p><p>Ignoring the way his own cock was throbbing insistently, twitching eagerly between his legs, Nevil started working up and down Eli’s cock, lips pressed tight to his fingers. He was as quiet as he could be, hoping vaguely in the back of his mind that the covers would muffle the wet sucking sounds that he couldn’t help making; not able to care much if they didn’t. Leaning his weight onto his elbow without slowing, he slipped his free hand around to grip Eli’s thigh up by his hip, holding him steady, feeling his tension mounting higher and <em> higher </em>and— </p><p>Eli stiffened and shuddered with a bitten-off whimper, his hips lifting briefly off the bed, cock pulsing even hotter and harder in Nevil’s grip just before the first splash of bitter salty heat shot out over his tongue and into the back of his throat. Nevil almost choked as he swallowed, his eyes watering— it had been awhile— but he didn’t stop, his own arousal building almost unbearably higher as Eli spurted wave after wave of slick heat into his mouth, cock throbbing with each pulse, his thighs tense and quivering on either side of Nevil’s head and his whole body jerking on the thin mattress. </p><p>Nevil slowed and then let up as Eli finally stopped twitching. He pulled off slowly, drawing one final shudder and a sharp exhale from Eli; then he crawled back up the bed, re-emerging from under the covers into the fresh, cool air of the room where he was immediately dragged down into a sloppy, urgent kiss. </p><p>Eli’s arms wrapped tightly around Nevil’s back to pull him close, the position rubbing his throbbing erection almost teasingly over Eli’s bare stomach. He barely tamped down on a shaky moan a moment later when Eli reached down to wrap a hand around him again and began pumping his aching cock with steady, firm strokes. Nevil shivered, panting, his mouth slack against Eli’s lips and his arms trembling under him. His imminent orgasm was already coiling hot and tight in his belly, and he was just starting to wonder, distantly, what they were going to do about the mess— when Eli stopped and wriggled down the bed between his legs. </p><p>And then Nevil wasn’t really thinking about <em> anything </em>anymore, except for the soft wet heat of Eli’s mouth as it closed over the head of his cock and sucked him in. </p><p>It was slightly awkward, on all fours with Eli sucking at him from below and twisting to jerk him off with one hand; but it didn’t take more than a few strokes anyway before Nevil was burying his face in the pillow to muffle his hoarse gasp while he spilled out into Eli’s mouth, his hips twitching erratically as he tried desperately not to thrust forward with Eli beneath him like that. </p><p>Eli kept sucking and tonguing at him as he came, working the last pulses of come from his twitching cock while he tried to remember how to breathe, panting hard into his pillow with both hands fisted in the bedsheet under it. A second, or maybe a blissful eternity, later, Eli’s hot wet mouth finally slipped off his spent cock, and Nevil pushed himself up on shaky arms to give Eli room to squirm his way back up the bed under him again. </p><p>With a giddy, uncontrollable smile spreading over his face, Nevil collapsed down onto his side, half-draped across Eli’s sweaty form amidst the tangle of bedding and half-removed clothing. “Fuck,” he breathed. </p><p>His voice came out about as wobbly as he felt. Eli huffed a laugh, his mouth finding Nevil’s in the dark in another sticky, lazy kiss that tasted like both of them together. </p><p>“Yeah,” Eli murmured, several long, wonderful moments later; and Nevil may not have been able to see it in the dark, but he could feel the soft curve of Eli’s lips and <em> hear </em> the relaxed smile in his voice. </p><p>Running a hand up the smooth, sweat-damp skin of Eli’s back, Nevil breathed out a deep, contented sigh, nuzzling closer still. Both of their underclothes were in a state of complete, tangled disarray, shirts bunched up and shorts half-off, but he was pretty sure they’d managed to keep themselves fairly clean, at least. They did always have the bedding from Eli’s unused bunk as back-up if they needed it, Nevil thought idly— </p><p>And then Eli pulled him back into a long, deep kiss and Nevil stopped thinking about much of anything aside from how perfectly Eli’s mouth fit with his own.</p><p>…</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>…</p><p>Eli woke up to darkness before the morning alarm even went off. He blinked into consciousness with his face buried in the side of Nevil’s chest, Nevil’s arm around his shoulders, and a sleepy smile already on his lips before he’d even quite remembered <em> why.  </em></p><p>“Good morning,” Nevil said softly, the familiar sound of his quiet smile making Eli’s deepen. </p><p>“Mm… g’mornin’.” Scooting up a little higher, he pressed a soft, lingering kiss to Nevil’s mouth before snuggling in tighter, throwing a knee over Nevil’s thigh. “Think we’ve got time for another round before the day starts?” Eli murmured, only half joking. </p><p>Nevil huffed a quiet laugh and wriggled onto his side facing Eli. “I don’t know,” he said thoughtfully, running his fingertips down Eli’s hip and around to the back of his thigh under the covers. “Depends how quick you can be.” </p><p>Eli grinned, biting his lip against a soft huff of breath as Nevil squeezed his leg, <em> just </em> under his ass, and then tugged him closer so their hips were pressed flush together. Eli wasn’t the only one with morning wood, clearly; and he pressed another brief kiss to Nevil’s lips before mouthing a lazy trail over his stubbled jaw to his neck. Nevil hummed, his hand slipping onto Eli’s ass and his hips rocking gently, the thickened shape of his half-filled cock rubbing teasingly against Eli’s own. </p><p>“Everyone else’ll be up soon, though,” Eli mumbled, still mouthing at Nevil’s neck, rocking his own hips in time with Nevil’s. </p><p>It felt different now, with the imminent threat of being interrupted by lights-on and the morning alarm; not to mention the knowledge that other people might wake up early and hear them. For the moment, though… for the moment he could still mostly pretend it <em> was </em>just them, alone in the dark. Just him and Nevil, Nevil’s hand warm and strong, cock pressing hot and hard against his while they moved lazily under the covers together. </p><p>“True,” Nevil murmured by his ear. “There’s always tonight, too… If you still want to, that is,” he added, pulling back just far enough to press a kiss to the corner of Eli’s mouth. </p><p>“Uh-huh,” Eli said with a shy, pleased smile. “I really do… Do you?” </p><p>“Mm… Definitely,” Nevil answered; then buried his face in Eli’s neck, grinding against him a little harder with a soft, huffed grunt. </p><p>Eli shivered and tilted his head back, his hips pressing forward and his stiffened cock twitching with interest— </p><p>And the lights came on. </p><p>Eli let his head fall onto Nevil’s shoulder with a frustrated groan. “<em>Fuck,</em>” he said, and Nevil snorted a laugh into his neck, the morning alarm started blaring, and it was time to get up and moving. </p><p>…</p>
<hr/><p>…</p><p>The day was the usual brutal work, though it was loads easier than it had been when Eli had first arrived. He really had gotten better at finding the right rhythm: working hard enough for the guards not to take any notice of him, without running himself <em> completely </em> ragged for no reason. And although it felt stupid when he stopped to think about it— he was still a <em> prisoner </em> in a fucking <em> mine, </em> after all— a light, giddy sort of happiness kept him in a good mood all day long despite the hard labour. After last night, something had changed between him and Nevil, something that felt… <em> right.  </em></p><p>Given the faint, almost goofy smile Nevil had on his face all through lunch break as they ate their rations together, leaning back against the cavern wall and very pointedly <em> not </em>talking about the night before, Eli didn’t think he was alone in that feeling. </p><p>When they got back up to the prisoners’ area for the evening, Eli was already feeling a little keyed up; energized despite the usual physical fatigue after their shift. As most of the other workers began filing into the mess hall, he and Nevil lagged behind, sharing a look. </p><p>The corner of Nevil’s mouth quirked up in a half-smile and Eli grinned, his cheeks heating slightly as he glanced between the deserted entrance to the washrooms and the crowded one leading to the cafeteria. </p><p>“Um… do you wanna…?” Eli started; then cleared his throat and trailed off, biting his bottom lip. </p><p>“Yeah,” Nevil answered immediately, his smile widening. Eli blushed harder and his stomach did a little flip— definitely not an unpleasant one— as a sharp curl of heat twisted through his groin. </p><p>They didn’t say anything more as they slipped into the refresher and stripped out of their grimy clothes together. Eli couldn’t help glancing over at Nevil as they did, his pulse quickening with nervous excitement. He wasn’t certain whether he was… allowed to <em> look- </em>look now or not— but then Nevil gave him a lingering, appreciative once-over, tongue flickering out to wet his lips and his smile getting even more heated; and Eli stopped worrying about it and appreciated the view right back. </p><p>He was already starting to get just a little hard from the anticipation alone by the time they made their way around to the back shower bank. This time, when Nevil thumbed the end shower on, Eli followed him in under the hot spray of water and pressed him back against the divider, a soft, shivering sigh escaping him at the feel of Nevil’s bare skin against his own. </p><p>Nevil’s arms wrapped around his back to pull him closer still and Eli slipped his hands onto Nevil’s hips in turn, lips and tongues almost crashing together, hot and hungry with a heady undercurrent of desperation. He felt Nevil shift without ever pulling away from his mouth, reaching to the side— and a moment later Nevil’s hand slipped between them, his hips twisting slightly as he wrapped warm, slick, calloused fingers around Eli’s rapidly filling erection. Eli couldn’t have stopped the moan that slipped from his lips even if he’d wanted to as Nevil angled them away from the spray of water and began stroking him slowly, hand slippery with what could only be the body wash. </p><p>His heart pounding, lust and pleasure thrilling through his veins and making his head spin, Eli fumbled blindly at the dispenser to do the same, already panting against Nevil’s lips. He could feel Nevil’s hips rocking against him; could feel Nevil’s cock rubbing against his sensitive skin in little electric bursts of sensation. Eli closed his gel-slick fingers around that stiffening heat, raising Nevil’s cock between them so they were stroking one another side by side. Nevil groaned, low and shaky, thrusting lazily into Eli’s hand and drawing another huffed gasp from his throat. </p><p>Eli couldn’t manage to keep himself quiet as they sped up, <em> fast, </em> Nevil’s soft grunts of pleasure and panting breaths mingling hot with his own as their lips met in increasingly sporadic, breathless half-kisses, hips rocking and hands pumping in tandem. With arousal coiling rapidly higher in his gut, Eli buried his face into the shower-damp, coarse curls on Nevil’s chest with a panting moan, clutching at Nevil’s hip for support. He didn’t stop pumping his fist, his gaze drawn inexorably down between them to watch his own stiff, flushed cock thrusting into Nevil’s tight grip while Nevil’s slid through his at the same time. He could feel Nevil’s other hand tightening on his ass, could see Nevil’s stomach tensing and hear his breathing getting more and more ragged with every exhale; and he <em> tried </em>to hold off just a little longer— but he couldn’t. </p><p>“<em>Nev— </em> I’m—” was all Eli managed to choke out before his looming release crashed over him, his lungs seizing in a single gasped half-cry, his stomach tightening and his cock <em> throbbing, </em> spurting streaks of come all the way up Nevil’s stomach and his own. He was still trembling and twitching, shaking through the aftershocks on wobbly knees and just <em> barely </em>managing to keep stroking Nevil off with jerky, uncoordinated movements, when Nevil thrust hard into his grip with a strangled, shuddering moan. </p><p>Breathing hard, Eli watched, rapt, as Nevil spilled out between them as well, and a whimpered groan welled up uncontrollably in his throat at the feel of Nevil’s come hitting his skin in long, hot, sticky bursts. While Nevil panted and trembled against him, the last pulses of thick heat running back down his twitching cock to drip over Eli’s fingers, Eli kept stroking, slow and easy; revelling in the slippery wet feel of it while idle, half-formed thoughts and fantasies swam through his mind of feeling Nevil come on him <em> without </em> the shower washing it away; or <em> in </em>him, or bent over for him— </p><p>“<em>Fuck,</em>” Nevil said, fervent and hoarse. He was still breathing heavily as he ducked his head to press his lips to Eli’s mouth. </p><p>Eli grinned happily, that giddy contentment welling up in his chest and spilling out of him in a breathless giggle as he finally released Nevil’s spent cock to slide both arms around his waist instead. They shifted back under the full spray of hot water together, trading a series of light kisses that slowly deepened into one long, lazy kiss instead, tongues twining and sliding and exploring. </p><p>Blissfully lost in the feel of Nevil’s mouth and hands on him, Nevil’s skin warm and wet against his, Eli completely forgot where they were— </p><p>Right up until he startled like a wild ash-rabbit at the sudden sound of not-too-distant voices and laughter on the steamy air. He jumped and pulled away; then flushed as Nevil raised an eyebrow at him with a fondly amused smirk. </p><p>“Sorry,” Eli mumbled, ducking his head with an abashed grin and stepping closer to Nevil again. </p><p>Nevil just chuckled and pressed another brief, smiling kiss to his lips. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I am fucking starving.” </p><p>Eli’s stomach chose that moment to growl loudly. “Maybe just a little,” he allowed, still grinning. </p><p>He thumbed the next shower over to wash off properly, the slick feel of Nevil’s come rinsing off his skin keeping the heat high in his cheeks. After they turned off the water, he planted another, somewhat self-conscious kiss on Nevil’s lips— a kiss that was supposed to be brief but somehow stretched into another long, lazy exploration. This one was interrupted by <em> Nevil’s </em>stomach loudly protesting the continued lack of supper, and Eli finally pulled away, leading the way to the dispensers at the front and still unable to wipe the broad smile off his face. The showers were beginning to fill up now— but for once, Eli found himself really not giving a shit what the people they passed might be thinking. </p><p>Supper in the mess hall was the same assorted flavours and textures of fibre-nutrient mush when he and Nevil joined the others at their usual table, enduring the good-natured ribbing about being too hungry to come eat supper. The brief period of relaxation in the Lounge afterwards was the same mix of genuinely enjoying a game or two with friends, while simultaneously just passing the time <em> not working </em>before falling into bed, exhausted. </p><p>But somehow, the usual dark, heavy despondence that always lurked quietly under everything; the underlying pain and fear and anger that Eli had grown so used to living with he hardly even noticed them anymore… Somehow, they had lessened. </p><p>They weren’t gone, far from it. Truth be told, Eli didn’t <em> want </em> them to be gone. He didn’t want this life to become <em> normal. </em>But as he lay in bed that night encircled by the solid, comforting, familiar weight of Nevil’s arms, with the brand-new taste and feel of Nevil’s mouth tingling on his lips, Eli realized… </p><p>Those things <em> hadn’t </em> lessened, after all. It was just that something <em> else </em>was there now, too. Something he had been quietly terrified he’d lost forever, without even being aware of it. </p><p>
  <em> Hope.  </em>
</p><p>Hope that, someday… he might have a <em> future </em> again. Something more to live for than just… just <em> surviving, </em>day after day after day. </p><p>And, he thought distantly just before sleep claimed him— maybe even someone to share that future with. </p><p>…</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Did I accidentally give myself another favourite ship by writing this fic? ...perhaps</p><p>OH YEAH and I almost forgot... what would people think of an eventual twice-weekly posting schedule on this? Mayyybe not immediately, but... at some point</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>…</p><p>
  <em> In all things in life, there is a cost.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Sometimes the cost is great. Sometimes the risk is one’s future, or even one’s life. But the calculation remains straightforward: whether or not the potential gain is worth the potential loss.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> The warrior must never forget that he and his adversary are not the only ones in that equation.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> No one can say where his path will take him, even for the duration of a single day. More difficult still is to see where one’s path will intersect that of an adversary— or an ally.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> A warrior must always be alert for such meetings, for seldom can one attain victory in warfare without allies.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Some allies provide direct assistance, the two forces battling side by side. Other allies provide logistical support. Sometimes the most effective use of an ally is as a threat, his very presence creating a distraction. But standing by an ally doesn’t necessarily mean one will always agree with that ally. Or with his goals or methods.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Alliances are useful in some situations. In others, they are absolutely vital.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> But they must always be approached with caution.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Unity of that sort is based on mutual advantage. While that advantage exists, the alliance may stand firm. But needs change, and advantages fade, and a day may come when one ally sees new benefits to be gained in betraying another.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> The warrior must be alert to such changes if he is to anticipate and survive an unannounced blow. Fortunately, the signs are usually evident in time for defense to be planned and executed. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> There is also always the possibility that changes will serve to meld the allies even more closely together.  </em>
</p><p>
  <em> It is rare, but it can happen. </em>
</p><p>…</p><hr/><p>…</p><p>Staring through the observation window at the darkened hangar bay of the ISD <em> Strikefast, </em>Colonel Mosh Barris stifled an irritable sigh and forced himself not to fidget. His captain had said they would wait; and so, he would wait. </p><p>Even if he couldn’t fathom what in space they were waiting <em> for. </em>It had been nearly two hours, and absolutely nothing at all had— </p><p>In the dim light of the hangar bay, a figure emerged from the transport he and his team had returned on, looked around, and disappeared behind a stack of shipping crates. </p><p>Barris felt Captain Parck’s attention sharpen beside him even as he himself leaned forward to peer through the transparisteel divider, frowning with equal parts shock and confusion. “Who is <em> that?”  </em></p><p>“Unless I’m mistaken, that’s the source of your troubles down on the surface,” Parck said. Barris bristled inwardly, his pride still stinging from the way their unknown assailants had not only somehow managed to run circles around his team, but had also remained completely unseen while doing so. “I believe that’s the castaway whose home you invaded.” </p><p>…<em>The </em>castaway? </p><p>
  <em> Ludicrous.  </em>
</p><p>“That’s impossible, sir. Those attacks couldn’t have been the work of a single person,” Barris objected. Belatedly realizing he had directly contradicted his commanding officer without thinking, he added, “He must have had <em> some </em>help.” </p><p>Parck hummed thoughtfully, but fortunately refrained from calling Barris out on the borderline insubordination. “We’ll wait a moment and see if anyone joins him.” </p><p>They waited in silence, watching; Barris somewhat illogically hoping that more shadowy figures would appear— even though that would mean he and his team had somehow allowed <em> multiple </em>stowaways to infiltrate the transport unseen. But no one else emerged while the lone figure stealthily made his way through the darkened hangar bay, eventually slipping inside one of their three Zeta shuttles. </p><p>“It appears he was indeed alone,” Parck commented. His tone was mild— though Barris was certain he detected a rebuking hint of <em> I told you so </em>in the words, along with… </p><p>Did he sound <em> impressed?  </em></p><p>Barris’s jaw twitched while Parck spoke into his comlink. “He’s in the middle Zeta. All weapons on stun: I want him alive and unharmed.”</p><p>Four stormtroopers entered the hangar bay and Barris watched in silence while they jogged across to the Zeta, two taking up covering positions on the shuttle door and two ducking inside in quick succession, blaster rifles at the ready. He was slightly surprised when, after only a brief moment and no sign of blaster fire, the stormtroopers re-emerged with their weapons trained steadily on their prisoner. </p><p>“Colonel, with me.” </p><p>“Yes, sir.” Barris followed Captain Parck out of the hangar bay control tower and back down to the bay’s entrance, where four more stormtroopers— the other half of the squad— were waiting for them by the hatchway. </p><p>The hangar bay lights came back up a moment later, illuminating the prisoner. Humanoid, but very clearly <em> not </em> human, with blue skin, blue-black hair… and eerily <em> glowing </em>red eyes. </p><p>Barris felt his own eyes narrow as the prisoner and his stormtrooper escort approached them, but he held his tongue. It was the captain’s prerogative to speak first. Still, anger seethed within him as he eyed the <em> alien </em>who’d had the temerity to take the lives of so many Imperial soldiers. </p><p>Not to mention making the entire landing party look just as inexperienced and incompetent as that snot-nosed pack of cadets the <em> Strikefast </em>had been stuck babysitting for weeks. Barris wasn’t sure which of those two indignities grated more. </p><p>His sour musings were interrupted as Parck addressed the prisoner. “Welcome aboard the Venator Star Destroyer <em> Strikefast. </em>Do you speak Basic?” </p><p>Silence fell. Barris had the distinct and uncomfortable impression that the alien was studying Parck a little <em> too </em>shrewdly. The prisoner said nothing, only shifted that unsettling red gaze to Barris after a few long moments. </p><p>Barris glared back coldly, his jaw tight, and didn’t bother trying to keep the disdain from his expression. He would <em> not </em>be intimidated. </p><p>Besides, whatever this primitive, Wild Space savage was, if it didn’t even understand <em> Basic—  </em></p><p>“Yes,” the prisoner said in Basic, turning his gaze back to Parck. “But little.” His accent was atrocious, but understandable. </p><p>Barris felt his jaw twitch again. </p><p>“I see,” Parck said, again with that <em> thoughtful, </em> considering tone. Barris forced down a biting reminder for his captain that this <em> thing </em> had just murdered a not inconsiderable number of their people in the last twenty-four hours alone. He didn’t deserve <em> thoughtful. </em>“Very well. I’m Captain Parck, commander of this ship. What’s your name?” </p><p>Barris ground his teeth as the alien looked away, surveying the brightly-lit hangar bay and seeming far too at ease for someone taken captive aboard an Imperial Star Destroyer. </p><p>“Mitth’raw’nuruodo,” he said, finally returning his gaze to Captain Parck. “But I think it is more easy for you to call me Thrawn.” </p><p>“Thrawn,” Parck repeated. “Very well. As I said, welcome. I want you to know that we didn’t intend to intrude on your privacy. We were looking for smugglers, and happened upon your home. One of our standing orders is to study all unknown species we come across.” </p><p>A long pause; then: “Yes. My people traded here, long ago. They were said this also.” </p><p>“Then why didn’t you just come out?” Barris snapped, before Parck could respond. Enough was <em> enough. </em>“Why did you harass and kill my men?” </p><p>The prisoner’s gaze turned calmly towards him. Barris held the stare again, still stubbornly refusing to be intimidated by this lone, guarded and manacled alien. No matter what havoc he had managed to wreak planetside. Parck’s somewhat unexpected lack of objection to Barris’s interruption bolstered his courage and anger both as the silence stretched again. Clearly, the captain wanted to see how their stowaway responded. </p><p>“It was necessary,” the prisoner eventually said in that heavy accent. </p><p>“Why?” Parck asked. “What did you hope to accomplish here?” </p><p>Another pause. “I hoped to return home.” </p><p>“You were shipwrecked?” </p><p>“I was—” the alien cut himself off, a faint frown furrowing his brow. “<em>Xishu azwane.</em>” </p><p>Barris snorted and turned to face his captain, pointedly ignoring the prisoner. </p><p>“Sir, with all due respect, we don’t have to stand here and listen to this. None of it has anything to do with the fact that he <em> murdered our troops,</em>” Barris said, biting out each word. Parck’s expression hardened, eyes flicking back to the prisoner, and Barris pressed his advantage. “Imperial personnel on a <em> sanctioned, </em> peaceful mission, with no provocation whatsoever. If you recall, he made <em> no </em> attempt to communicate with us, despite ample opportunity. And now, suddenly, he ‘just wanted to go home’?” Barris snorted again. “<em>I’d </em>say he’s been reading too many children’s stories, sir.” </p><p>“Colonel Barris has a point,” Parck finally said coolly— and to Barris’s relief, that coolness was directed at the alien rather than himself. “If you needed to leave the planet, why not simply ask?” </p><p>A flicker of emotion, another faint frown, briefly marred the prisoner’s otherwise impassive expression. Barris took a grim delight in the thought that it might be irritation at him, for breaking whatever verbal spell the alien had been weaving over Captain Parck. </p><p>“I regret the loss of life,” Thrawn said gravely. “But the risk you do not aid was too great. My people need me.” </p><p>“Well, you should have thought of that before attacking us,” Barris said coldly. “I’m afraid your people will be waiting for you for <em> quite </em>some time, after what you’ve done here.” </p><p>For a moment, he thought Parck was going to continue the conversation— but then, with a quiet sigh that Barris wasn’t <em> entirely </em>sure he’d actually heard, Parck’s gaze shifted to the stormtroopers. “Commander.”</p><p>“Sir?” One of the stormtroopers stepped forward. </p><p>“Escort the prisoner to the holding cells. And keep guards posted and alert at all times. The debacle down on the surface will <em> not </em> be repeated aboard my ship.” </p><p>…</p><hr/><p>…</p><p>“Just because <em> we </em> don’t know what he is, <em> doesn’t </em> mean he falls under the Unknown Alien protocols,” Barris burst out, glowering at the bulkhead of Parck’s office in the general direction of the <em> Strikefast’s </em> holding cells. He couldn’t believe Parck was <em> seriously </em> considering taking the prisoner back to <em> Coruscant. </em>“The species is probably already recorded on a census from some backwater Outer Rim planet or other. I still think he ought to be executed here and now for—” </p><p>“I am <em> well </em> aware of your opinion on the matter, Colonel, <em> thank </em>you,” Parck interrupted sharply, and Barris shut up, belatedly realizing he’d finally pushed his captain’s patience too far. </p><p>Silence fell. Parck stared blankly at the screen of his desk terminal for a long moment, his eyes focused somewhere behind it; then almost seemed to give himself a little shake. </p><p>“But you make a good point,” he conceded, his voice still tight and oddly… resigned? Barris frowned again, opening his mouth— but thought better of it when Parck’s gaze sharpened, and instead held his tongue. “Allowing such actions to go completely unpunished would certainly send the wrong message. Not to mention <em> further </em>lowering morale.” </p><p>At Parck’s pointed look, Barris flushed, quickly grasping the implication that he and his troops <em> should </em>be ashamed of their abysmal failure in containing one lone, unarmed castaway. “Yes, sir.” </p><p>“But we will keep the hut and materials gathered from the settlement aboard, until such time as it can all be transferred on to an appropriate storage facility,” Parck continued. “I will file my report and recommendations in the meantime. And should this Thrawn turn out to be of interest, under the UA protocols or otherwise, anyone who wishes to question him further will know exactly where to find him.” </p><p>“Sir?” Barris said, brow furrowing again. In confusion, this time. Surely Parck didn’t intend to keep this alien aboard the <em> Strikefast—  </em></p><p>“The Shisar mining complex,” Parck said, tapping his desk terminal to bring up the record. “It was converted into a rehabilitation facility several years ago. The system is only slightly out of our way en route to Myomar to return their cadets, and the incarceration will serve as adequate punishment for the time being.” </p><p>Barris suppressed a grim smile of satisfaction. Rehabilitation facility: meaning an Imperial labour prison. Not execution, but for a nonhuman… it wouldn’t be pleasant for this <em> Thrawn, </em>at least. </p><p>It would do. </p><p>“He looks more than healthy enough that he shouldn’t have any trouble surviving there while the desk jockeys decide if there’s any more to be done with him,” Parck continued. “You may inform the bridge of our detour, Colonel.” </p><p>“Yes, sir,” Barris said, snapping a sharp salute and striding for the door. </p><p>Just before he could open it, Parck called, “And, Colonel Barris?”</p><p>Barris turned back. “Captain?” </p><p>“Until we offload him and he becomes someone else’s problem, I am holding you <em> personally </em> responsible for his safety aboard my ship,” Parck said, a not-so-subtle emphasis on the word <em> my. </em>“There will be no ‘accidents’. Do I make myself clear?” </p><p>Barris nodded stiffly. “Crystal, sir.” </p><p>“Good. Dismissed.” </p><p>…</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter brought to you by lots of support and patience from Revakah through my hemming and hawing about minor details and the location of chapter breaks 😅💙</p><p>I'm still sticking with the Sunday updates for the time being, but I am leaning towards twice weekly as we get closer to the end of the fic 😏 <strike>*mumbles* also the chapter count might change again, I'm not sure yet</strike></p><p>(Also, once again, the prelude &amp; some dialogue here was taken directly, or with minor edits, from Zahn's 2017 novel)<br/>(Also-also, I have been positively vibrating excitedly all week about finally getting to Thrawn's arrival in the story 😂🙈 I hope I have done it justice)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>…</p><p>“We can<em>not </em> get out of here soon enough,” Eli muttered. An uncharacteristic scowl darkened his face as he jabbed again at the controls on the beat up old Dejarik board they’d claimed for the evening. One that was <em> particularly </em>notorious for being glitchy. </p><p>Nevil leaned back in his chair and glanced casually around. He’d been looking for a chance to bring this up while they were alone. And now was probably as good a time as any: the Lounge was loud tonight, the rest of their usual crew were busy watching a vid clear across the room, and no one nearby was paying him and Eli any attention at all. </p><p>“I might have a bit of an idea for that, actually.” </p><p>Eli looked up, a series of expressions flitting across his face too quickly for Nevil to really follow. “What? What are you talking about?” </p><p>With a meaningful look around, Nevil considered the board for a moment and then played his opening move. “I’d been thinking about it before you even got here, but I didn’t have anything solid,” he said, keeping a light, conversational tone. </p><p>“And you do now?” Eli asked quietly. </p><p>“Getting there,” Nevil answered. “When you think about it, there’s a lot more of us than there are of <em> them, </em> right?” he said, giving a subtle nod of his head in the general direction of the currently locked doorway up to the central hub. “I reckon we can use that to our advantage.” </p><p>Eli looked… slightly skeptical, but interested. “How?” </p><p>“Have you noticed there aren’t that many stormtroopers on duty here at any one time? It’s mainly just the regular guards?” </p><p>“Yeah,” Eli said, nodding thoughtfully as he took his turn. “There aren’t many stormtroopers assigned to this place at all. Not at the same time, and they’ve actually been reducing them lately.” </p><p>Nevil paused, raising an eyebrow in mild surprise. “How do you know that?” </p><p>Eli looked confused. “They all have numbered designations etched into their breastplates. I know they’re not the easiest to see, but—” </p><p>“Yes, I know <em> that,</em>” Nevil interrupted. “But those are ten digits long.” </p><p>“Yeah,” Eli said, “I know.” He sounded slightly… embarrassed, for some reason. </p><p>“And you can keep track of them all?” Nevil pressed, and Eli, after a hesitation, nodded. “That’s… Eli, that’s really impressive.” </p><p>Eli shrugged and fiddled with his controls. “I’ve always been good with numbers and patterns.” </p><p>“Clearly,” Nevil said, eyeing him thoughtfully before finally playing another move. “So you think they’ve been cutting back on the number of troopers assigned here?” </p><p>Eli nodded. “I’m certain of it. They had twenty-four rotating through when I got here, the full three squads. Pretty standard. But recently, I’ve only been seeing two squads’ worth. They’re working longer shifts, too. <em> And </em>they’re not being rotated out with fresh troops as often anymore. Every six to eight weeks instead of four, now.” </p><p>“That is interesting,” Nevil mused, studying Eli curiously. “Is there any pattern to which of them get assigned down in the mines themselves and who stays up top?” </p><p>Eli shook his head. “Not that I’ve been able to figure. But they’re not down there as much. I’d guess the heat is pretty hard on them in that armour, even with the built-in ventilation. You need specialized stuff for extreme heat or cold, and these guys just have the basic stormtrooper armour. Down below here that’ll <em> do, </em>but… it sure as hell won’t be comfortable.” </p><p>“That was my thinking, too,” Nevil agreed. “And I think I’ve worked out where they store the explosives down there.” </p><p>Eli’s eyes widened. “Really? Where?” </p><p>“Well, there’s only one tunnel that’s <em> always </em> got a pair of stormtroopers guarding it. You know the one?” Nevil said, and Eli nodded slowly in understanding. “Since it’s off near the smelting chamber, there’s always fewer guards <em> and </em>workers around. I’m sure we could work out a way to get to them. And, if we get enough people on board, we should be able to overpower the guards down below quickly enough that they don’t have a chance to raise the alarm. Probably at the end of shift. I just…” </p><p>Nevil grunted irritably, frowning at the Dejarik board and absentmindedly playing his next move. “The biggest problem is, we can’t plan it properly when we never know which bloody station we’ll be on.” </p><p>Eli shot him an impish little smirk, and won the game. </p><p>“Actually… I think we do.” </p><p>…</p><hr/><p>…</p><p>Eli was almost finished his quiet explanation of the rolling shift patterns he’d been tracking— and how new intakes always messed them up unpredictably— when one of the double doors leading out to the central hub opened. </p><p>The tension in the room rose slightly and the general hubbub died down, everyone’s interest pulled to the door to see what the new arrivals would be like. Breaking off the discussion, Eli craned his neck to have a look along with the rest of the room. </p><p>But to his surprise, it wasn’t the usual motley group that was escorted through the door. Instead, a single, lone prisoner was ushered in by a white-armoured stormtrooper, blaster rifle trained steadily at the man’s back. </p><p>Or rather, the <em> alien’s </em>back. He was humanoid, but definitely not human, given the strikingly blue skin. Unusual, for this place. </p><p>The newcomer looked around as he walked in, scanning the room— and as his face turned towards their table by the far wall, Eli stiffened in shock. </p><p>“What is it?” Nevil asked. </p><p>Eli slowly shook his head, his mouth hanging slightly open as he stared at the new arrival, utterly dumbstruck. It couldn’t be… but it <em> had </em> to be. The new prisoner was dressed oddly, in what appeared to be dirty, tattered animal skins and ragged furs; but that blue skin and the self-assured, almost regal demeanour, combined with shaggy blue-black hair and <em> glowing red eyes—  </em></p><p>“That’s a <em> Chiss,</em>” he said quietly to Nevil, not sure if it was fear or a reverent sort of awe he could hear in his own voice. </p><p>“A what?” </p><p>Eli finally dragged his eyes off the alien currently being escorted through the room and met Nevil’s slightly confused, curious gaze. “A Chiss,” he repeated, leaning forward. “There are legends, stories about them back home on Lysatra, but I always thought they—” </p><p>Nevil gave a tiny little shake of his head in warning, eyes leaving Eli and tracking across to… Eli swallowed hard and fell silent. The new prisoner shouldn’t have been anywhere near enough to hear them talking quietly; and yet those brilliant red eyes were looking right at him. The Chiss’ path took him closer to their table and he watched Eli and Nevil for a long moment as he passed by, head turning to track them as the stormtrooper ushered him towards the line of doorways at the side of the Lounge. </p><p>He only looked away again when the trooper barked an order at him. </p><p>“You’ll sleep here. Understand?” </p><p>The Chiss prisoner looked at his escort, expression remaining utterly blank. He glanced at the entryway he’d been brought to, inclined his head silently in a shallow nod of acknowledgement, and disappeared into his bunkroom. </p><p>It was, Eli realized with a strange sinking feeling, room DR. The one <em> he’d </em> originally been assigned to when he got here. Angel was still in that room… and <em> everyone— </em>the guards included— knew the man had it in for nonhumans. </p><p>As the buzz of conversation around them picked up again, the temporary distraction passed, Eli shared a look with Nevil. He could see his own vague concern mirrored on the other’s face. Angel was probably still eating— Eli didn’t see him anywhere in the Lounge at the moment— and possibly wouldn’t know until later that night that he had a new, nonhuman roommate. Eli wouldn’t be surprised if the Imps had assigned the newcomer to that room on purpose, if they thought the Chiss deserved an extra dose of punishment.  </p><p>“Is there anything we can do?” he asked Nevil quietly. “You <em> know </em>Angel is gonna have a go at him,” he pressed when Nevil frowned down at their game board and didn’t answer. </p><p>Nevil sighed and scrubbed a hand over his head. “I don’t know, Eli… Do you really want him and his little gang hounding us again? Because you <em> know </em>they will, if we get in his way. It was bad enough after I took you away from him,” he said seriously. “And they’ve only just started to lose interest. Honestly, we’re luckier than I expected that they never got a good chance to have a real go at either one of us.” </p><p>Eli swallowed, dropping his gaze and slumping back in his seat. </p><p>“I know, I just…” He trailed off, frustrated, jabbing a thumb viciously at the Start button on the Dejarik panel. </p><p>“I know,” Nevil said quietly. </p><p>“All he did was get assigned to the wrong <em> room,</em>” Eli muttered bitterly. “Just like me. Imp bastards probably did it on purpose.” </p><p>Nevil grunted thoughtfully at that, his gaze swivelling away from Eli and their game table again. “I wonder what he did to piss them off, if that’s the case.” </p><p>Eli followed Nevil’s gaze to see the Chiss re-emerging from his room and scanning the Lounge once more with that piercing red gaze. He was <em> big, </em>Eli realized rather abruptly. Taller than both of them, with shoulders just as broad as Nevil’s; though his leanly-muscled arms weren’t quite as bulky. He also appeared not to have washed in days, if not more, and the greasy-looking black hair brushing his ears was ragged and uneven, as though he’d kept it crudely hacked short with nothing but a sharp blade. </p><p>Somehow, none of that detracted from his sheer <em> presence </em>in the slightest. </p><p>After studying the large space— and the people in it— for several minutes, the Chiss prisoner turned and began making his way around the side of the room, once again drawing everyone’s attention. If it bothered him, though, he didn’t show it. He calmly avoided everyone in his path without really <em> looking </em>like he was even doing it on purpose, his bearing remaining confident and coolly detached despite all the eyes on him. </p><p>“Eli,” Nevil said in that same thoughtful tone, after the Chiss prisoner disappeared into the washrooms. Eli cocked his head and waited. “What exactly do these legends of yours say about the Chiss? Because honestly, I’m wondering if it might be <em> Angel </em>who has something to worry about, sharing a room with that one.” </p><p>…</p><hr/><p>…</p><p>Nevil listened intently, only occasionally asking questions as Eli shared every tale he could remember that even <em> mentioned </em>the Chiss. They were, on the whole, wildly fanciful and deeply inconsistent; more folk tales than anything else. </p><p>It was no wonder Eli had never believed there was any truth to them. Nevil suspected that while grains of truth <em> were </em> still there, the stories had diverged heavily from the reality in which they had their roots. Most likely, the various colonies and peoples of that area of Wild Space, including the Lysatrans, really <em> had </em>had dealings with the Chiss… But centuries ago, maybe more, with the details either exaggerated or lost over time. </p><p>It was even entirely possible the tales and rumours had only filtered through to Eli’s people through intermediaries— the trading partners of Lysatran explorers and travellers— and the Chiss had never <em> actually </em>come to his home planet at all. </p><p>Whatever the root of the stories, however, the Chiss’ basic appearance was one detail that had remained fairly constant. Although some of the myths embellished the aliens with fur, feathers, scales, fangs, and the like— not to mention ascribing them supernatural powers on occasion— the descriptions all shared three characteristics without fail: blue humanoids with black hair and red eyes. </p><p>As to whether those eyes <em> glowed </em>or not, the stories were split about fifty-fifty. </p><p>The other aspect that practically all of the legends agreed on was that the Chiss were proud, deadly warriors. Clever and resourceful; formidable enemies but staunch allies— <em> if </em>you could get them on your side. Many of the stories also suggested that the Chiss were a deeply secretive, insular species, extremely protective of one another and of their home, located somewhere in the far reaches of the Unknown Regions. </p><p>In some stories, the overly curious— or those who didn’t hold to bargains they made, depending on the tale— attempted to follow a Chiss ship in secret, only to meet with a merciless and brutal end for their trouble. In others, someone who proved themselves worthy was rewarded by an audience with Chiss rulers and allowed to see the glory of their ‘ascendant empire’, whatever that meant— although just as many tales were spun in turn around the dangers to unwary travellers, descended upon in the dark depths of space by red-eyed monsters and never seen or heard from again. </p><p>Of particular interest to Nevil, however, was the fact that a majority of the tales, and notably the less fanciful ones, indicated that Chiss were not only formidable fighters— they were also honourable, and kept their word faithfully once it was given. </p><p>All potentially <em> very </em>useful qualities, to someone who’d been quietly mulling over who best to get involved in staging a prison breakout. </p><p>Nevil’s mouth twisted in a wry, mirthless smirk. Of course, that would all depend on whether this particular Chiss lived up to his people’s reputation or not. And how he dealt with Angel’s inevitable attention. Despite feeling a little uncomfortably guilty about being so… <em> mercenary </em>about it, Nevil couldn’t deny he was extremely curious to see just how that situation played out. </p><p>While they talked, he and Eli had been keeping up the pretense of playing several more rounds of Dejarik, to keep attention off themselves and stop anyone from inviting themselves to join the two of them, but neither of them was really paying much attention to the game board. Eli was just preparing to launch into another story— and blushing for some reason, Nevil noticed— when the blue-skinned alien finally re-emerged from the refresher. </p><p>The Chiss was dressed in the same vaguely ill-fitting jumpsuit as everyone else now— yet he somehow managed to make the shapeless garment look almost <em> crisp, </em>through sheer force of posture alone. It helped, too, that he was visibly much cleaner. The filthy, tattered clothes he’d worn in were gone, of course; and his shimmering blue-black hair was obviously freshly-washed, swept back from his brow and very neatly and precisely clipped short in an almost military-looking cut. </p><p>Nevil watched as the Chiss paused in the doorway leading off the Lounge. That inscrutable, glowing red gaze swept the room again— and a little shiver ran down Nevil’s spine when those strikingly inhuman eyes rested briefly on him and Eli before moving on. </p><p>A moment later, the alien newcomer made his way back around to his bunkroom. Eli was watching too, a small frown furrowing his brow— and they weren’t the only ones. </p><p>Nevil exchanged a look with Eli. Angel and his gang were done supper and were staring at the Chiss’ disappearing figure, faces darkening in scowls down to a man, though they didn’t follow him into the bunkroom. </p><p>Yet. </p><p>Shifting his gaze to stare unseeing at the flickering holographic creatures waiting on the board between him and Eli, Nevil bit back a sigh. Guilt was still gnawing quietly at his insides; warring with the distinct, unshakable, but admittedly baseless impression that the Chiss did not, in fact, <em> need </em>any help. From him or anyone else. </p><p>He just hoped the unfortunate newcomer would prove just as capable of taking care of himself as he seemed to be. </p><p>…</p><hr/><p>…</p><p>Sabaac hand forgotten, Angel watched the new arrival re-emerge from <em> his </em>room and make his way around the side of the Lounge like he owned the fucking place. The alien glanced at the room designation plaques as he passed each entryway; then headed down the short tunnel to the cafeteria after a brief pause at the entrance. </p><p>“Looks like we got us a new <em> pal </em>to show around tonight,” Nashi said gleefully from across the table, elbowing Ryn. “Eh, Angel?” </p><p>“Looks like,” Angel agreed, his scowl turning into a slow sneer. Taking that self-assured alien down a peg or two <em> did </em>sound like just what he needed, now that he thought about it. “Something like that deserves a proper welcoming committee, don’t he?” </p><p>Beside him, Vinnt just grunted in agreement, fingers tapping rapidly, ceaselessly against the table top. He never had gotten over the loss of his knives when they’d been thrown in here. </p><p>Angel snorted and settled back in his chair as the card game resumed. </p><p>They’d wait for the alien to finish eating and come back to the bunkroom to sleep. A pity he’d already taken his shower— everyone was more vulnerable naked, more easily threatened— but he wouldn’t know when the lights went out for the night. </p><p>He would learn. Right along with learning who, exactly, was in charge here.</p><p>…</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>They were finally all three in the same room, we made it!!<br/>Also, imagining what folk tales and legends would be like in a space-faring society was fun ^.^</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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